Zootopia:Nick's Secret
by Kovu Wilde
Summary: Takes place the day after the events of the movie. Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps are doing their best to keep Zootopia safe, but when Judy wants to learn more about her friend and partner, she realizes that Nick is harboring some dark secrets...Will these secrets ruin their friendship, or will they just make it into something more?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the rights to the movie, characters, etc. I am just a big fan of this movie (It's actually my new favorite), and I wanted to dig deeper into Nick's past. This is just something I have thought about, and wanted to see how it went.**

Nick's secret

Judy Hopps had just arrived at the precinct at an extremely early hour, as always. She glanced at officers McHorn and Rhinowitz, two of the rhino officers, talking by the coffee machine, rubbing their crusty eyes, and trying to wake up properly for the day ahead. Judy was as awake as she could possibly be. She had wanted to be a cop ever since she was a little girl, despite everyone telling her to be something else, so she never considered this job as a job. It was simply something she loved to do.

But Judy was in an especially good mood today, for her new partner would be arriving for his second day on the job. Nick Wilde, her best friend, had just officially become a police officer a few days ago. Judy, herself, had given him his badge. All Nick wanted was to be part of a pack...and now he was. She remembered the look he gave her when she gave him his badge and saluted. That look was something she wished she could freeze and photograph in her mind. It was a look of sincere happiness, a look that told Judy that he finally felt accepted. It was the proudest moment of both of their lives as Nick happily saluted her back and everyone cheered.

Now, Judy would finally get to work with Nick as her partner. It was a very unlikely partnership, a fox and a rabbit, but no one was against it. No one questioned it. Judy walked up to the desk where Benjamin Clawhauser sat, munching on a chocolate donut with extra sprinkles. She laughed as he finished it in one bite.

"Hi, Clawhauser!" Judy said happily, giving a friendly wave at the chubby cheetah.

"Hey, Judy!" Benjamin said with equal joy, knocking over the box of donuts as he raised his paw to wave at her. Luckily, Judy caught the box before it could spill out any of Clawhauser's precious sugary, fried pastries. The squeal he emitted when the box dropped, though, almost made Judy drop it with laughter. But she managed to get it back onto the desk as she continued to giggle. Even Clawhauser was laughing at his own ridiculous shriek of fear for his food. "Thanks, Judy. I don't know what I would've done if they spilled all over the floor."

 _Probably would have eaten them anyway,_ Judy thought with a hint of regret. She hated to think things like that, but it was probably true, which made it even more sad.

"Ben, is Nick here yet?" Judy asked, already knowing the answer. Nick had barely managed to make it to work on time yesterday. He wasn't the type to wake up early every morning. She would have thought that after waking up so early every day at the academy, it would teach him to be more timely. Still, Judy was pretty glad that they hadn't been able to change Nick entirely. His appearance was no different. He was still as skinny as a pencil, and hadn't lost that sly smile that seemed glued to his face at every waking moment. Judy was the only mammal in Zootopia that knew that Nick's smile wasn't always sincere. He had told her about a traumatizing event that he experienced at a young age, making him vow to never let anyone see that they got to him.

Despite the one moment Nick had let her in, he hadn't made that same mistake again. Not once had he confined in her about anything else. In a way, she wanted to be offended, but she knew that it was Nick's way, and that he would allow himself to be vulnerable to her again when he felt he was able.

"No," Clawhauser stated simply to Judy's question, "I haven't seen him yet. Sorry." Judy looked at the entrance, hoping to see Nick walking through the front door. But the sly fox wasn't behind her as she had hoped. Judy said goodbye to Clawhauser, and with a final glance at the entrance, made her way over to the briefing room where most of the other officers were waiting for Chief Bogo to come in and assign everyone their tasks for the day. Everyone was chatting happily to each other. A few officers that noticed Judy gave her a nod or a "Good morning" to which Judy replied with a toothy smile.

She walked over to her seat where she and Wilde both sat. It was a pretty big chair for the two smallest officers at the ZPD, so Nick and Judy never had a problem sharing it. She waited as patiently as she could, which was hard for a bunny, not noticing that she was rapidly tapping her foot on the seat. Since the table was too tall for her to see over when she sat down, Judy was forced to stand up in her chair all the time. It never bothered her much, but she still wished that they could lend her a seat that went up higher.

A few minutes later, Judy watched in horror as Chief Bogo walked into the room. That was enough to terrify anyone, but that's not what shocked the little bunny. As all of the animals sat up straight in their seats out of respect and fear for their Chief, Judy had to resist the strong urge to yell at the fox that was walking silently behind him. She thought that Nick was in trouble for something because of his naturally mischievous behavior, but she soon realized that Bogo hadn't the slightest idea that Nick was even behind him. As Bogo stood at the podium, Nick smoothly followed, making sure he was behind the chief the entire time.

Bogo put on his usual glasses and look around the room. "Where's Wilde?" he asked in his gruff voice. At that point, Judy knew that no amount of cleverness could get the fox out of this one. But as she glanced at him, he had the classic sly smile he always had on his face. Judy couldn't see his eyes behind the shades that he had yet to take off, but she knew for a fact that they were sparkling with pride. As Bogo was about to ask the question again in a less polite tone, he heard someone in the hall call his name in a frantic manner.

"Chief Bogo," said a voice. "Come quick." Bogo quickly walked out of the room, noticing the frail looking armadillo that worked in forensics as he looked out. He reluctantly followed her out of the room to see what was causing the alarm. As the chief did this, Nick walked casually to his seat and climbed up into his spot next to Judy. His proud smile had no intention of faltering as Judy playfully elbowed him in the ribs.

"I can't believe you were stupid enough to do something like that. You're lucky that armadillo called him when she did," Judy said, giving him another elbow to the ribs. Nick flinched at the attack with a laugh.

"Not luck, Carrots," Nick said confidently. "Just a little bit of persuasion." Judy looked confused at first, but suddenly knew what he was talking about.

"You payed that poor armadillo to lie to the chief?!" Judy whisper-yelled at her partner. She was trying her hardest not to smile at the fox.

Nick put a hand on his chest as if he was hurt, raising his sunglasses with the other hand so Judy could see his eyes widen with fake surprise. "Why, Miss Hopps, how could you accuse me of such a terrible act? I didn't pay her to lie to the chief." Nick said all of this in the most dramatic voice his could. "I just payed her to distract him. Listen, Carrots, she really is in horrible distress." Judy listened as she heard the shrill voice of the armadillo speaking to the chief.

"I really did, chief," said the armadillo in what sounded like an earnestly upset voice, "I lost my coffee! It was here one moment, and it was gone the next!" The chief was walking back into the briefing room, with the armadillo trailing behind him.

"I cannot believe you would disturb my briefing with such trivial matters as your lost coffee, Susan. Just go make another cup," the chief wasn't yelling at Susan, but Judy could tell that he was ready to snap. Right before Susan exited view from the doorway, she gave Nick a small thumbs up. He responded by raising his sunglasses again and winking. Judy wasn't sure if she should elbow him again or tell him how smooth that was. Maybe she would do both. But before she could decide, Bogo had finished mumbling unkind things about Susan and continued on with the briefing that he really never got the chance to start in the first place. "Alright, as I was-Wilde? When did you…" Bogo sighed. He had only known Nick for a few days, but wasn't surprised that the fox had somehow managed to magically appear in his seat. He didn't suspect that Nick had a part in Susan's interruption, but still gave him a glare. "Lose the shades, Wilde, we're inside." Bogo really didn't care if Nick was wearing his shades, but he wanted to scorn the fox for something since he couldn't technically accuse Nick of being late, therefore rendering him unable to reprimand him for his possible tardiness.

Nick didn't even move in the slightest when Bogo ordered that he take his shades off, except to open his mouth. That was Bogo's one weakness: Nick's silver tongue. That thing was more dangerous than anything in Zootopia as far as the chief was concerned. He was the one mammal that had ever been able to render him silent, and he hated it. Before he could tell Nick to shut his mouth, it was too late.

"Oh, I'd love to take my shades off, oh grumpy one," said Nick with a slight bow of his head, his sarcastic voice thinly veiled by a fake sincerity that made Bogo snort in anger, "but if I take them off, I might be blinded by your gloriously bright personality." Almost all of the animals behind Nick were chuckling, despite the chief's deadly stare, and Nick took his shades off just to meet the chief's eyes with his own stare. Usually when Chief Bogo looked someone in the eyes like he currently was with Nick, they cowered away. Not Nick. He kept looking his chief in the eyes with that playful smirk of his. Judy didn't even think her partner was blinking. The silence in the room grew tense, and Bogo eventually had to break the stare with the sly fox, surprising most of the officers, especially Officer Fangmeyer, who's jaw looked like it was about to hit the floor. No one had ever managed to make the chief back down from a stare before.

The chief did his usual routine of giving all of his officers jobs to do around Zootopia until it was just him, Nick, and Judy. Judy didn't know why Bogo always gave them their reports last. She couldn't really blame him for doing it today because of Nick's famous talent for making him angry. Then again, Nick annoyed the chief yesterday, too.

"Wilde. Hopps," said Bogo, getting the attention of his two best officers. "There have been a series of robberies across all of Zootopia. So far, we haven't been able to get much. There are no connections between the stores or their owners, and the robberies all seem to be random. Clawhauser will show you the file we have on it." Judy enthusiastically reassured the chief that they would not let him down, and Nick just quietly followed his partner to look at the case file. Bogo wanted to take Nick's silence as the fox's way of backing down, but he still had that infernal smile on his face, making Bogo worry that Nick was waiting for the right time to verbally torture him again.

Once they were out of earshot, Judy looked at Nick with a small smile, wishing that it was a scornful frown, but unable to force her mouth to move from any position except a smile. "You just _love_ standing up to him, don't you?" she asked her smiling partner.

"Well," Nick said, "it started off as an occasional witty remark, but I'm curious now as to how far I can take it."

"You really should be careful," she said. "He's not just an experiment for ex-cons, he's our chief."

"True," said Nick, his smile getting a bit wider. "I guess I just have so much pent up sarcasm from the academy, I just can't contain myself. I'll be sarcastic to a lot of people, Carrots, but I learned the hard way to be careful around that crazy polar bear." Judy laughed harder than she wanted to, getting the attention of a few people. She could relate so well to the insanity of the academy, and it felt good that she could talk to Nick about that kind of stuff now.

The duo walked to the desk where Clawhauser was excitedly awaiting them. He handed them the folder and watched Judy walk back to her and Nick's shared office with it.

"Morning, Sprinkles," Nick said to Clawhauser with a wave over his shoulder. Benjamin loved that nickname. He was officially named after his favorite food, or at least an accessory to his favorite food. Judy practically hopped to her office and sat down with the folder in hand, opening it hastily. Nick took a bit longer to catch up to her with his casual walk, sitting down in his own chair next to Judy. At least they didn't have to share the same chair in their office. "You know, I saw you opening this thing," Nick said, tapping his claw on the file, "and I feel like you could have made it more dramatic. You know, open it like you would if you were in a movie. Just throwing it open in a hurry ruins the suspense."

Before Nick's sly smile could halfway spread across his face, Judy said, without looking up from her file, "I'll make sure you get the file for the next case we crack. Then you can open it any way you want...you're such a drama queen." Her tone was surprisingly serious, but Nick could see the smile on her face as she said this. He scooted his chair closer to look at the file with her.

"Not much to go on," he said. Judy twitched her nose in determination.

"I've had worse," she said confidently. "The nighthowler case we cracked had no leads or witnesses, and I wasn't in the system at the time. Good thing I saw that pawpsicle in Mr. Otterton's hand, and that goofy tail of yours in the picture of his last known location."

"Goofy? You think my tail's cute. Admit it, Carrots. You _love_ my tail."

"I'm about to love _kicking_ your tail if you don't help find a lead, Mr. Wilde," Judy flashed a smirk at him and continued studying the file with Nick close to her side. The fox laughed and looked at the file with her for a bit. There were no witnesses to the robberies, and only a few leads, all of which apparently lead to dead ends. Judy looked down at some of the notes near the bottom of the page.

 _No sign of forced entry, no alarms tripped, and nothing caught on surveillance._

Judy kept studying the files they had while Nick started typing on the computer. Judy, for a moment, wanted to turn around and make sure he wasn't playing online poker again like he did yesterday, but before she could even look up from her paper, she heard Nick laugh in triumph.

"Check this out, Carrots," said Nick as Judy looked at what he was doing. It was the surveillance footage from a jewelry store a few blocks from The Mystic Springs Oasis. Judy wasn't quite sure what Nick had such a proud smile on for. "Watch." He pointed at the screen, and Judy got in closer. Whatever it was Nick was seeing, Judy definitely didn't spot it. She was about to accuse her friend of messing with her, but then she noticed a small glitch in the footage, and the jewelry was all gone in a flash. Nick paused it. "You saw that, right?"

"Yeah...they must have hacked into the camera system and put it on a loop until they were finished taking all of the jewels. That still doesn't answer how they managed to get in without setting off the alarm or breaking anything."

"Or does it?" asked Nick, his smirk getting even wider. "If they can hack into the camera system, they should also be able to get into the alarm and overwrite it. After that, all they need is a good lockpick and you have free reign of all the jewels."

"Wow, look at you. Didn't I tell you that you'd make a good cop?"

"Eh, once you've lived on the streets a bit, you just pick up stuff like that. Not that I've ever stolen before, of course."

"Oh, of course not," Judy giggled. Sometimes she wondered what all things Nick did as a thief and a con artist. This wasn't the first case where his criminal past helped them get closer to solving it. She probably shouldn't find such things funny, but Nick was reformed. It was like laughing at a tragic event that happened years and years ago. Joking about it was a way of moving past it.

"Anyway, if they put the system on a loop, then we should be able to remove it and see the real footage."

"Do you really think you can do that?" Judy asked.

"Well, I'm more of a businessman than a hacker, but I do have a guy that can encrypt this for us...except…" Nick trailed off, as if wondering if he should finish what he was about to say.

"Well?" said Judy expectantly. "Except what?"

"He can probably show us the real footage, but he's not exactly big on cops."

"Well, neither were you, and here you are now."

"Yeah," Nick said distantly. "We'll have to talk to him at night, though. He's not much of a daytime kind of guy."

"Okay, so do you want to go on patrol or something while we wait, or maybe we could question a few of the store owners," Judy suggested. Nick planted a smile on his face.

"Or maybe," he said, "we could watch that new movie you've been so excited about."

"Nick, we can't watch a movie during a case," Judy said, looking around to make sure no one could hear her before lowering her voice. "Okay, let's go." She hopped out of her chair, followed by a laughing Nick. The fox and rabbit walked out of the precinct as Nick was patiently listening to Judy's excitement for the movie. "Everyone's saying that it's one of the best movies of the year."

"Sounds great," Nick said somewhat unenthusiastically. Judy's ears drooped a little.

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

"Nothing's wrong," Nick said simply. "I just haven't seen many movies."

"Too busy planning scams with Finnick," Judy said jokingly. Nick smiled.

"I still watch television, but I guess I'm just more of a music kind of a guy."

"Really, I wouldn't have guessed with the way you acted at the Gazelle concert."

Nick laughed, "First of all, I enjoyed that concert, I'm just not a big dancer. Second of all, she's not my favorite singer." Judy smiled, remembering when she managed to convince Nick to dance at that concert. Sure, he just kind of rolled his arms from side to side, but it was good enough for the bunny.

The two friends kept talking until they made it to Judy's apartment. "I wish we could watch the movie in theatres, but you were at the academy at the time," Judy said.

Nick shrugged, "Believe it or not, I'm not a big fan of theatres. I like to enjoy a movie at the comfort of my own home."

"Speaking of which," Judy said. "My apartment doesn't have a T.V, so can we watch it at your place?"

"Oh," Nick said. He certainly wasn't expecting Judy to ask that question, and Judy felt bad for not asking earlier. The thought just slipped her mind completely. Nick let his surprise show for a few seconds before putting his smile on out of habit. "Why, Officer Hopps, if I didn't know any better, I would say that you had a crush on me."

"Well then, Mr. Two-Hundred Dollars a Day, maybe you should buy me a T.V for my apartment so that I won't have to find out where you live." Nick laughed. Judy was one of the few people who could actually make up comebacks to his wit.

"Sure, we can watch it at my place. I'll text you the address and you can meet me there in, say, an hour or so?"

"Yeah, that's fine," said Judy. "See you in an hour." Judy hugged Nick goodbye, and they went their separate ways.

* * *

 **Hey, guys. This is my first fanfic, so please tell me what you like and dislike about this fanfic so that I can fix it to your liking. By the way, I will be posting the next chapter within the next few days, depending on how long it takes to get some feedback. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Zootopia or it's characters, I'm just a big fan of the movie. Warning: This chapter got a bit darker than I expected, but the whole story won't be like this.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Judy was standing in the bathroom of her dinky apartment, studying herself in the mirror, making sure that she looked okay for her meet up with Nick. Her ears were still a bit wet from the shower she had just taken. For some reason, they always took longer to dry than the rest of her fur. Usually, Judy didn't care so much about her appearance, except to make sure her police uniform looked neat and professional.

But for some reason, she found herself making extra sure that the purple T-shirt she had bought a few weeks ago complimented her eyes, and that the blue jeans fit decently. As she picked up the brush to straighten the fur on her head and ears, she heard her phone go off in the other room. She walked out of her bathroom, still brushing her fur as she picked the phone up, assuming it was Nick giving her the address to his apartment. She was pretty excited to see where her partner lived. If she got to see Nick's apartment, it would be a way of letting her into another piece of his life, which he so rarely did. But as she watched the bright screen appear, she saw that it was a text from her parents.

 _Hey, sweetie, can we call you? Are you busy?_

Judy smiled. Ever since the nighthowler case, her parents MuzzleTimed her on a daily basis to make sure she was okay, and that she was still enjoying her time on the force. At this time of day, they probably assumed she was at work, which explained the text. Judy went to her contacts, clicking on Mom and Dad, and selecting the MuzzleTime option. A few seconds later, the face of her father and mother appeared on the screen.

"Hi, honey!" shouted Judy's mom, Bonnie. Her husband, Stu, stood next to her with a smile on his face.

"Hey, guys," said Judy. "Did you need something?"

"We just wanted to see if you were doing okay. It's still kind of early, are you off today, honey bun?" asked Stu. Judy affectionately smiled at her father.

"No, Dad, I have a lead on a case I'm working on with Nick, but I have to wait until nighttime to follow it." Her parents both looked at each other with strange expressions. "I know, it's weird that I have to wait until dark to follow a lead, but that's just what Nick said."

"How is Nick, by the way?" Bonnie asked, a smile growing on her face.

"Yeah, how is that guy? You know we haven't even gotten to meet him yet," said Stu.

"I know, I'm sorry," Judy apologized. "But in all fairness, he just graduated from the academy not long ago. I promise you guys will meet him whenever the opportunity presents itself."

"You know, sweetheart, you talk about Nick a lot. I'm starting to wonder if you have a little crush on this guy," Bonnie said with a smile. Judy could feel her cheeks getting as red as Nick's fur.

"No, no, no, I do not have a crush on Nick! He and I are just best friends and partners-uh, I mean partners in fighting crime," Judy was surprised that her parents would ask her such questions.

"Oh, okay. Sorry about that, hun," said Stu. "So, what're you gonna do while you wait for the sun to go down?"

Judy knew that what she was about to say would only further arouse her parent's suspicions of her and Nick's relationship status. She was glad that they accepted foxes now, but they were starting to take it a bit far. Still, she didn't want to lie to her parents.

"Um, I'm actually going to go see a movie with Nick...at...his-um...apartment," Judy said, regretting each word that came out, knowing that her parents would accuse her of going on a date with the fox.

Bonnie's eyes got really wide, "Oh, okay. We better get going, Stu, Judy's got to go meet her friend. Bye, sweetheart." Before Judy could say anything, the call ended, leaving her a bit distressed. She didn't know why that bothered her so much. Her parents weren't the only ones that thought she and Nick should get together. Most of the people at the force smiled warmly at the two when they walking together. Nick always made a joke to get their attention away from his friend, knowing how uncomfortable Judy felt when they looked at the duo like that. He could always read her like she was a novel. She wished she could read that fox like that.

Judy shook off that feeling of discomfort, knowing that she and Nick were just friends, and that they were going to remain that way. She walked back to her bathroom, checking herself in the mirror one last time, making sure she looked nice, before checking for any messages from Nick. So far, there were none. She thought about calling him, but figured that he would just text her when he was ready to meet her. While she waited, Judy hopped on her bed, turned on that Gazelle song she had been listening to obsessively since she made it to Zootopia, and relaxed, waiting for Nick's message to tell her where his apartment was.

* * *

Nick was picking up the dirty clothes he had on the floor, knowing that Judy would lecture him on the importance of being neat and clean if she saw his old boxers scattered everywhere. He was currently wearing a pair of khaki pants with a button-up black shirt. For once, though, he wasn't wearing his lucky tie. That tie had been around his neck for every scam he pulled with Finnick, and even when he was solving the nighthowler case with Judy. He never wore it much now, but maybe it would come in handy again one day.

Nick finished picking up most of the clothes before collapsing on the couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table, and turning on the T.V. He flipped through some channels to see if anything interesting was on, but to his disappointment, it was nothing but reality shows, news, and other shows that he had never seen, and would never bother trying to see.

Unable to find anything on the T.V, Nick simply switched it off and looked around his spacy apartment for anything that Judy wouldn't like. He really didn't need to try to clean up. If Judy got mad at him for it, he would just come up with some witty remark that she couldn't respond to.

 _I suppose I could get a shower,_ he thought. _Eh, why not? I don't have much else to do._ Nick got up from his comfortable couch, and went to his bathroom to turn the shower on. While waiting for the water to get hot, he went to his speaker that sat on a small table next to his T.V, and took out his phone to check for any messages. _I should probably text Carrots the address now, but she may come here as soon as I send it. Definitely don't want her show up while I'm getting a shower._ Nick shuttered at the thought, and just decided to text her after he got his shower. He plugged his phone into the speaker, letting the music from his playlist fill his apartment with his favorite songs.

He wasn't much of a dancer, but Nick couldn't help letting his footsteps match the beat of the music as he closed the door to the bathroom and got into the shower. He let the hot water hit his fur and he could faintly hear the music from his living room. He felt peaceful, relaxed. He felt good. Only two things ever made him feel one-hundred percent comfortable. Music and Judy Hopps.

Nick had never really had any friends, but the ones he did have never made him feel like Judy did. She even got him to reveal one of his most traumatic experiences, and she didn't even ask him to. He just told her for no reason. To this day, he still didn't know if he hated himself, or felt better for telling her. He felt naked around her. Well, he technically _was_ naked right now, but she made him feel like he had no barriers. Like she could see right through him. It was weird...but he didn't really mind it.

When he was away at the academy, he had thought for a moment, and just one moment, that he might like her as more than a friend. But he knew that was ridiculous. He had just missed his future partner, only being able to chat with her via texting or phone calls. As the fourth song from his playlist started, Nick got out of the shower and put a nearby towel around his waist before going out to the kitchen.

He went to his refrigerator where he spotted a carton of blueberries and an iced coffee he had bought last night and forgot to drink. With a smile on his face, the fox popped a few blueberries into his mouth and took a sip of his coffee beverage. He put the drink back into the fridge, feeling quite satisfied with himself, and started walking to his room, drying his fur on the way, ready to put on the first shirt and pair of pants he saw in his dresser.

Suddenly, Nick felt it. That all too familiar sensation. His towel slipped from his hands, and he automatically grabbed his chest with his claws. He could feel the overwhelming sense of fear and panic as he backed up against the nearby wall and slid to the ground. His heart was beating hard and fast. So hard, in fact, that he didn't need to have his paw up to his chest to feel it thumping. His heart wanted out, it wanted to be free, and Nick was more than happy to accommodate. He dug his claws deeper into his chest, as if trying to rip his own heart out just to stop it from making him feel so awful.

Nick felt like he was going crazy. He felt like he would never be able to escape the fear that was plaguing him. Only to make matters worse, wave after wave of memories began to flood his brain. The most prominent of them all was that night with the scouts. He could almost feel the cold muzzle pressing into his face. He found himself using the other paw to claw off a muzzle that wasn't there, instead clawing up his face and head. He sat there, his back against the wall, trying to take deep breaths, refusing to let tears come out. He hadn't cried since that night with the muzzle, and he wouldn't do it now.

Nick wasn't sure how long he sat there, taking deep breaths, but his heart rate slowly started beating at its regular strength and pace. Once the awful feeling had subsided, Nick had no strength left. He couldn't fight the tears that were streaming out of his eyes, and gave up. The dam broke, and he sobbed and cried. He wasn't sure if it was relief or the remaining fear, but he was crying. He was no longer the confident Nick Wilde that everyone knew. He was the young Nick Wilde, crying with his back against a staircase, feeling like he wasn't worthy to be given the precious gift of acceptance.

Exhausted, emotionally and physically, Nick stood up and carelessly removed his phone from the speakers, no longer wanting to listen to music. He decided to send Judy a simple text:

 _Something came up. Gotta cancel the movie. I'll meet you at your place later to talk to my guy._

After sending the text, he turned his phone off, too ashamed to wait for a response, and walked to his bedroom. Except this time it wasn't to get dressed. It was to collapse on his bed, tears staining the fur on his cheeks, and try to fall asleep. Maybe he would wake up, and it would all be gone. No more attacks, no more worrying, and no more faking.

* * *

Judy was awoken by the sound of her text tone going off. Her headphones were still in, making it extra loud. She rubbed her tired eyes, checking the text she got. To her excitement, it was from Nick. She could finally go to his apartment. Only, it wasn't his address. He was cancelling on her.

"Something came up. Gotta cancel the movie. I'll meet you at your place later to talk to my guy," Judy read aloud. "I wonder why he would cancel." Disappointed and realizing that it would still be quite a few hours before she and Nick could go meet up with his old acquaintance, Judy was left with more free time on her hands than she knew what to do with. Frufru would be too busy taking care of her child, her parents were all the way in Bunnyburrow, and she really didn't feel like MuzzleTiming them again, and she doubted she would be able to go back to sleep after her little nap. She was already dressed and everything. Her only choice was Clawhauser, and while she loved the cheetah, she just had her hopes set so high on watching a movie with Nick.

Admittedly, she felt just a bit clingy for wanting nothing but to watch that movie with her partner with whom she already spent most of her days with. With no other options, Judy decided to just go for a walk through Zootopia to clear her head. She got up from her bed, taking her headphones out, and exited her room, taking a glance back to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. As she walked down the hall, she saw the two antelopes that stayed in the apartment next to her. They were crazy neighbors that always listened in on her conversations. Judy suddenly felt very fortunate that they hadn't been in their room to hear her read that text aloud.

* * *

Nick woke up, groaning from the awful dream he had. He lay there in his bed, more than a little relieved that he was finally awake and away from that nightmare. He groggily slid out of his bed and went to his living room. That's when he saw the towel on the floor. In that moment, Nick knew that what had happened hours ago was no simple nightmare. It actually happened. He sighed, remembering that text he sent Judy. Nick quickly put on a set of clothes, consisting of a red polo shirt and jeans, and went to where he had left his phone beside the speaker system. As he waited for it to turn back on, the fox looked out his window above the kitchen sink, realizing that the sun had gone down. It was nighttime? How long had he been out?

He was interrupted from his momentary shock by the bright light of his phone. That was when he got his second shock. Judy hadn't responded to his text.

 _That's not good,_ he thought. Remembering his promise to meet her at her apartment to talk to his old friend, Nick put his phone back into his pocket and went back to his bathroom to wash his face so he could wake himself up. When he turned the light on and looked into the mirror, he saw the claw marks on his face. They were pretty light and had already started healing, but Nick couldn't let her see them. One claw mark was on the upper part of his cheek, another was on the base of his muzzle, and the third was on the right side of his head. His shades could easily hide the ones on his cheek and muzzle, and Judy was too short to be able to see the upper part of his head, so he hoped that she wouldn't notice and start asking questions like the little detective she was.

Nick reluctantly pulled up his shirt, seeing the four marks on his chest where he had scratched. They weren't very deep either, but it was definitely hard for Nick to look at them. It was bad enough to have these attacks, but he had never clawed himself because of them before. Pulling his shirt back down with the mentality that if he couldn't see them then they didn't happen, and walked out of the bathroom, no longer needing to wash his face to wake himself up.

He quickly walked out of his apartment, grabbing his keys and shades on the way out. If he didn't have good night vision, it would have been impossible to see at night with sunglasses. He just hoped that Judy would be too focused on the case to notice his strange liking for sunglasses at such an hour.

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Judy had returned to her apartment after taking a long walk and reluctantly asking Clawhauser to go see some movies with her at the theatres. It wasn't that she had a bad time, though she would have preferred that the cheetah hadn't talked to her throughout all of the films they watched. What bothered her was what Nick had texted her. She had tried to stop thinking about it several times, but just couldn't bring herself to think about anything else.

The way that text read was just wrong. It was abrupt and short, and worst of all there was no joke at the end. Every text he had sent her made fun of her in some way or another. She hadn't called him or texted him back, assuming that whatever made him serious had to be important. But now that it was dark out, she was about to call and make sure that they were still going to meet that guy that she had been waiting so long to do. She clicked Nick's name in her contacts, and waited as she heard it ring.

"Hey, Carrots," Nick said. "Ready to go meet my old compadre?"

"Yeah, didn't you say that you were coming to meet me at my place?" At that moment, Judy heard a knock on the door, and hung up the phone, knowing who it was. When she opened it, she saw Nick standing there, holding his phone. That smile on his face ever present.

"Yikes, I was just talking to this bunny on the phone, and she just hung up on me. The nerve of some people, huh, Fluff?

"Really, Nick?" Judy asked. "You were already here?"

Nick shrugged, "What can I say, I'm timely." His smile got wider, but he noticed how droopy Judy's ears were, and let his smile fall. "Look, I'm really sorry about cancelling, but something came up. Forgive me?"

Judy looked up at her friend, watching his mouth start to form an expectant smile. He already knew she would, he just needed to hear it.

"I'm not upset about it, Nick, I've just been so bored all day." If Nick wasn't wearing those shades of his again, she would probably see the sparkle in his eye.

"Well, you won't be bored for much longer, Carrots, because it's time to keep going with this case. Let's go." Nick started down the hall, his smile back to its full strength. Judy shook her head with a smile of her own.

 _There's the Nick I know,_ she thought, her smile fading. _So who was the Nick that texted me?_

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 **Sorry this chapter is a bit darker than the previous one. With this story, I'm trying to blend real life with the movie. I still want to make the characters as accurate as I can to the movie, but at the same time, I want to see some aspects from reality. Nick's panic attack, for example, may not be in the movie, but I believe that it is something he has to deal with after experiencing such events in his childhood. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I want to say thanks for the feedback. Constructive criticism and suggestions for the story itself are always welcome.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to anything in this movie.**

 **To: Guest- So it's all about the boy scout incident again? I thought in this fic we were going to find out new things about Nick's past. Nice chapter anyway!**

 **I'm glad you said that. No, this story will not focus solely on Nick's incident with the boy scouts. In chapter two it states that waves of memories flooded his brain, hinting that his panic attack was a mix of different awful things that happened in his life, but the muzzle was the most prominent memory that went through his head at the time, referencing his possible PTSD from the event. I hope I cleared some things up.**

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Judy and Nick were on the sidewalk, silently travelling to where Nick said his old friend lived. The silence between the two was uncomfortable for a couple of reasons: One, Nick hadn't made a single snarky comment since they left the apartment. And two, there was a strange tension between the fox and rabbit. Judy kept sneaking glances at him, looking for any sign of emotion. Despite not saying anything, he kept that sly smile. At some point, Judy had to wonder if that was just his resting face from using it so much. Occasionally, they would pass by a store with a neon sign, or a car would pass, it's headlights hitting Nick's face.

Judy took these moments to check if the light would be strong enough for her to see past the sunglasses to his eyes. She had to be very careful when she did this, as Nick would certainly question her and make a joke if he noticed her continuously glancing at him. Only once did she manage to catch a glimpse at his eyes. She sighed when she saw that his eyes still had that sly look to them. Judy always believed that the eyes were the windows to the soul. If Nick could hide the emotion in his eyes, then to her that meant that he could change his very soul to make people believe that he was okay.

Yes, that was a very farfetched thing to think about, but this was Nick, the best actor she knew of, and she had a very strong feeling in her heart that there was something wrong. Well, that and the fact that she had seen something on his face when the headlight hit his sunglasses the right way. He could hide any emotion from appearing on his face, but he couldn't hide claw marks. Judy was determined to find a way to get him to take the shades off to confirm that was what she saw, but if Nick wanted to hide something from her, he would go to whatever length necessary to do so.

"So," Judy said, deciding to take a leap of faith, "why are you wearing sunglasses when it's so dark out?" She tried to make her voice as uncaring and casual as possible.

Nick's smile remained the same, but his eyebrow raised, "Well, I want to make sure that you're completely focused on this case. I don't want to distract you with my good looks." On any other day, Judy would have laughed at that, but not only was that comment expected, it was also her first failed attempt to get him to take the sunglasses off. "Honestly," Nick continued, "you sound like Bogo. Is the famous Judy Hopps losing her sense of fun and becoming the soulless chief? Stoicism is not a good look for you, Carrots. The next thing I know, I'll be walking into our office only to find you virtually dancing with Gazelle on your phone. I can already see your face photoshopped on a shirtless tiger."

Judy temporarily lost interest in what Nick was hiding, "What?"

"You didn't know about that? Well, Clawhauser was showing me the app against my will, and I may have politely tricked him into revealing some juicy details about our chief using that same app when he's alone in his office." Judy's smile could not have been wider, remembering Clawhauser showing her that app while Nick was away at the academy.

"You know, you're pretty good at getting information from people. If the whole cop thing doesn't work out you should be a reporter," said Judy. She had completely forgotten about what Nick was hiding at this point.

"Well, while I would adore watching you crumble under pressure as I ask you extremely personal questions about your cases, I don't think you could handle not having me as your partner. Besides, I could just interrogate criminals if given the chance. I'll be the good cop, and you, my fluffy little partner"-Nick ruffled the fur on Judy's head-"can be the bad cop." Judy grumbled as she tried to straighten her fur.

As she was trying to straighten it back up, she suddenly realized what he was doing. Judy tried her best not to glare at Nick as it all became clear. He was distracting her so that she would stop asking him questions, just like he did with the other officers at the ZPD when they accused them of being a couple. She wasn't happy about being tricked like that, but she couldn't deny that it was pretty impressive. Also, it just proved that he was hiding something...kind of.

Judy tried to think of a way to turn that against him. She had done it once when she blackmailed him into helping her with the nighthowler case by dangling the threat of prison over his head. Felony tax evasion, something that Nick wasn't prepared to be caught doing. She could stick her foot out to trip him. Maybe the sunglasses would fall off and he would have to explain the marks. Then again, was Judy just doing all of this for naught? He would probably just come up with some brilliant excuse to make it seem like nothing was wrong.

Judy knew that she couldn't read Nick very well, but she couldn't shake that feeling that flowed through her entire body. Something was wrong with him, no matter how much he tried to hide it.

"You thinking hard enough there, Carrots? I can almost hear those little gears turning," said Nick. Judy snapped out of her thoughts, looking out to the road, watching an occasional car pass by. She heard a small sigh from Nick. "Look, Judy, I know you're not still upset about me cancelling on you. But there is something that's eating you. Just go ahead and tell me what's on your mind. I don't think I can handle your uncomfortable staring much longer." He added a small smile at the end of what he said, but it wasn't sly or snarky. It was actually sincere, and if Judy didn't know any better, she would have thought there was even a bit of concern behind that smile.

He knew the whole time that she was staring at him. For once, she had thought she was one step ahead of the fox, only to find out that he was actually two steps ahead of her all along.

"Well…" Judy tried to force out, but couldn't. She wanted to slap Nick so bad, not knowing if this was another distraction or if he was actually trying to figure out why she was acting strangely. What slipped her up the most was when he called her by her real name. As far as she could remember, he had only done that once before. And whenever he did call her by her real name, it meant that he was serious. The bunny took a deep breath and looked the devilish fox in the eye. "What made you cancel our movie night?" That sounded so stupid to Judy when it came out, but Nick didn't laugh, make a joke, or even put that mischievous curl back to his lip. He simply looked at Judy, his eyes filled with a sadness that his friend couldn't see, but his smile still earnest and caring.

"Carrots, the truth is…" Nick said, getting his face closer to her, their noses almost touching. Judy could smell the soap on his fur from the shower he took. She swallowed hard. "I had to make a few phone calls, do a bit of research, make sure that he's still living in his old hideout."

"It took you a little under ten hours to call people?" Judy asked incredulously.

"No, the phone calls were before I texted you, I just thought I'd let you know. I don't want to leave out any details. The reason why I sent you the text was because I was tired. I wanted to get some extra sleep. I needed to make sure I was well rested so that I wouldn't slip up around Rick."

"Your guy's name is Rick?"

"Yes, and he's very crafty, and he hates cops. Like I said, Judy, I needed the sleep so I could properly talk to the guy without him managing to trick me into spilling some secrets." Judy crossed her arms, letting Nick know exactly what she thought of that excuse.

With Nick's face still a bit close to hers, Judy grabbed his sunglasses and pulled them off before he could move back. Nick had a face of surprise mixed with disappointment in himself for leaving himself open for that. But that worry and shock disappeared from his face as soon as it appeared. Judy could have blinked and missed it...but she didn't blink. She saw the temporary surprise on her friend's face when she pulled those shades off.

"Do you feel like explaining those claw marks?" Judy asked, trying to keep her composure, thought she wasn't sure what emotion she was trying to bury. Whether it was anger or sadness, she had yet to decide. Right now, she was focused on hearing Nick's next excuse.

"I will gladly explain these claw marks on my face," said Nick with a confident tone, making Judy's fur stand on edge with annoyance. "I wanted to make sure I would completely fool Rick by giving myself some light claw marks. Light enough to look like scars instead of recent scratches. This way, he'll think that I've been back on the streets, and that I conned the wrong guy. Look, Carrots, Rick knows everything. He knows people, which he means that he also knows, one way or another, that I helped you on that nighthowler case. The more I could do to make him believe that I'm still a criminal, the better."

"What about me? I was all over the news for a time, meaning that he'll know I'm a cop. And according to you, he hates cops."

"No, you _were_ a cop, but after quitting the ZPD, I managed to convince you that the life of a con artist was better and exceptionally more rewarding. You agreed to be my pupil, letting me teach you my ways, with your first scam involving us cracking the nighthowler case, thus enabling you to rejoin the ZPD to have access to the files. You know, find good places to steal from, steer the cops away from scams I pull, and other things, all under my watchful eye." The sly smile was back. Judy wanted to smile back at the fox's clever plan, but it seemed too real. She mentally scolded herself for thinking so, but Nick could have devised that plan on the spot. Still, Judy could find no argument for what he said. Except…

"So why were you wearing those shades to hide the marks from your face instead of telling me the plan, which you waited until now to do, by the way."

"I was going to tell you when we got to Rick's place. Speaking of which," Nick said, stopping in front of a regular looking apartment complex. "Here we are." He saw the look on Judy's face. She wasn't expecting this guy to live in such a normal looking place.

"He lives here?" asked Judy.

"Not every criminal hides in an abandoned warehouse, Carrots," Nick joked. "Come on. It's time to meet him." He walked into the building with Judy not far behind. She glared at the back of Nick's head, as if it would somehow let him know how unhappy she was with him. Everything Nick said made sense in a way. She was even starting to doubt herself, wondering if he was actually telling the truth the whole time. At this point, Judy knew that she was acting a bit crazy, constantly seeing if she could get Nick to admit something that he may not have even been hiding. She just couldn't shake the feeling that the fox was lying to her. At some point she would have to ask herself why she was so determined to get the truth from him.

The fact of the matter was that Judy just cared for Nick. Something was affecting her partner, and she didn't want him to suffer through it alone. In her family, if something was bothering someone, they would talk about it. Everyone would be there for each other. She knew that Nick was different. He was a fox that obviously didn't like sharing his feelings. But if he had told her about his troubles once, he could do it again.

Judy shook these thoughts from her for the time being. She needed to focus on the task at hand, which was talking to Rick. Nick walked into an elevator with his partner and clicked the button leading to the third floor.

"You never told me why he doesn't like meeting people in the day," said Judy.

Nick gave her a sideways glance, letting his smile disappear, "Yeah, this guy's a bit...different. I don't really know why he hates daytime so much, but I never asked. You'll understand why when you meet him."

The elevator door opened, and Judy walked out, following Nick to whatever room he was heading to. She wondered exactly what he meant when he said that she would know why Rick didn't like sunlight when she met him. Nick stopped at one of the doors along the corridor, taking a deep breath and shooting a reassuring smile at Judy, before knocking on the door. They waited for a few seconds, not saying anything, until the door cracked open a bit. All Nick could see was an eye staring at him. The eye widened when it saw the fox, and the door closed again. They could both hear the sound of the chain on the door being unlatched, and watched as it suddenly opened as wide as it could go.

"Nicholas!" yelled a gray wolf wearing a black shirt with a skull on it and black jeans with a chain on the side. His right eye was covered with an eyepatch, and there was a nasty scar going down the whole right side of his face. "How long has it been?" Nick smiled widely at his friend.

"I'd say it's been a few years," he responded. "How've you been, Rick?"

"Doing good. And who's this little lady? You finally get yourself a girlfriend? I thought you said you weren't interested in that kind of stuff."

"No, Rick, we're not together like that. She's my partner in crime," Nick said. "Finnick's been busy, so I had to get a substitute till he's ready to start back." Rick laughed.

"Please, come in. What can I do for you?" he asked, stepping aside to let the two in. Judy was shocked at how welcoming and friendly this wolf was. When she walked into his apartment, she noticed how dark it was. Curtains covered all of the windows. The only light came from lamps that were scattered across the place, providing barely enough light to see where she was going. Judy was really starting to envy Nick's night vision, angrily watching the fox walk to a nearby chair with his wolf friend as if it were as simple as making a wisecrack.

"I need your help," said Nick to his wolf friend.

"Does it have something with those marks on your face?" Rick asked. "If you're not more careful, pal, you'll end up like me." Rick laughed a bit, but Judy could tell it was still a bit of a touchy subject for him.

"No," Nick chuckled with his friend. "I spotted a nice little jewelry store here in Savannah Central. I was going to try and scam them out of some of their valuables. But, right when I'm about to go in, I discover that it was already robbed. So, I do a bit of research, and apparently there's been a string of robberies across Zootopia"-He pulled out a hard drive-"I managed to sneak a video of the incident. It was put on a loop, so I couldn't see who did it. I was wondering if you could reverse this so I could find out who robbed this place. I want to make a deal with him he can't refuse."

Rick took the hard drive, before busting out into laughter, "I don't need to reverse it, Nick, I already know who did it."

"You do?" Nick asked.

"Yes, because I'm the one who looped the footage for him." Rick burst into laughter. Nick reluctantly joined in, seeing an opportunity.

"I should've known," said Nick, laughing. "No one else in Zootopia could loop footage like that besides you. So, who is it? Who're you working with?"

Rick's laughing slowly died down, and he looked his old friend in the eye, "Listen, we've been friends for a long time. We were even partners once...so I'm sorry it has to be like this." Rick slipped the hard drive back into Nick's shirt pocket.

"What do you mean?" Nick asked with a hint of a smile. Judy slowly put her hand on her partner's arm, ready to bolt to the door with him if necessary.

"I didn't have a choice, Nick. This is bigger than the both of us. I owe you, friend. I hope you can forgive me," Rick said. Judy had heard enough. Before she could get herself and Nick out of the room, she felt someone grab her, dragging her away from Nick and to the far corner of the room. Judy realized with fear that it was a polar bear that had her. Another polar bear came out of nowhere, and put a bag around Nick's face. She could almost hear his muffled voice, probably yelling at Rick. Judy wanted to say something. She wanted to tell Nick that everything would be alright, but she was too busy trying to escape the polar bear's grasp.

Nick's struggling became weaker and weaker, until he stopped moving altogether. She watched as Rick walked up to her with a sad look on his face.

"Don't worry, girl, he's not dead. I'm sorry you got caught up in this, whoever you are, but-" Rick stopped talking when one of the polar bears snorted in warning. Judy watched them take the bag off of Nick's face. It was too dark to tell if he was breathing or not. She didn't care to trust what Rick said for one second, but she hoped he wasn't lying. Had he known that Nick was coming? Rick was still standing next to her. He even looked a bit worried for his old partner. Judy wanted to kick him more than anything. She could probably slip her foot out for just a second to accomplish that task, and there was no doubt in her mind the polar bear wouldn't care if she kicked this wolf.

The polar bear that knocked Nick out picked the fox up and walked out of the room. The bear holding onto Judy mimicked his partner and slung her over his shoulder. She yelled and shouted, beating against the bear's neck, but to no avail. The bears carried the unconscious Nick, and the very conscious Judy down to the lobby. Everyone stared at the sight, but they did nothing. Judy couldn't believe that these people were just watching her get taken away against her will.

As far as she could tell, no one was even making a move to call the police. After seeing everyone's lack of care for the kidnapping of two police officers of Zootopia, Judy gave up her fighting, and let the polar bear put her into a black car with Nick, but not before tying her hands behind her back and her legs together so that she wouldn't try to escape. They also made sure that the two polar bears were between Nick and Judy. Nick was completely out, his head leaned on the tinted window of the car. Judy sat patiently, thinking of a way to escape, and looking for any opportunities to get out.

But as the car drove down the road, and Judy kept drawing blanks on ways to get out, she lost hope. There were a few ways she could escape by herself, but there was no way she was going to leave her partner alone. She couldn't really do anything if she escaped, anyway. All she could do was tell Bogo, and by the time they managed to find Nick again, it would probably be too late…

There were a few questions Judy had running through her head. Why did Rick seem so sorry about what he was doing? Who were these polar bears? The only polar bears she'd ever seen dressed up like this belonged to Mr. Big, one of the most dangerous crime bosses out there. But they were in good graces with him. Unless Nick sold him another skunk-butt rug, there would be no reason to kidnap the two officers.

Judy looked out the window, wishing she had brought something with her. She could have brought her stun gun, or even her handcuffs. Anything that she could use to help her get out. These bears hadn't even searched them for any weapons, so Judy could have easily sneaked in a few with her. She looked over at the unconscious Nick, wishing that she could do something to tell him that she was sorry for not being more careful. As she stared at her friend, she noticed something. A small twitch of his eye.

Judy glanced up at her polar bear captors, checking to see if they noticed it. They both were looking straight ahead, so Judy risked looking at her friend again. Nick opened his eyes long enough to shoot her a wink. She acted like she hadn't seen it, leaning back in her seat, watching her partner through her peripheral vision. Nick waved his hand slightly so that Judy would focus her attention on it. He pointed at himself, then at her, then at the door. His eyes still closed, Nick held up three fingers. Judy knew what that was. It was a countdown. Two fingers...she carefully put her legs up onto the seat with her, ready to jump. One finger...she looked at her captors one last time. Nick's last finger went down...It was showtime.

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 **Agh, don't you just hate cliffhangers? I kind of rushed this chapter, so I hope you guys like it! Anyway, while we are getting into Nick's criminal past, this story will also reflect on Nick's personal demons. It won't be much longer, though, before we get into more of that. Let's hope Judy finds a way to get Nick to finally open up to her again.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, guys. I am so sorry that I took so long to update. I've been really busy this summer. Before I start, I want to recommend an album to you guys. It's called "Transmissions" by Starset. I won't promise that everybody will like it, but I just figured I'd share it with you guys. Also, there is a particular song in this album that reminds me too much of Nick. I want to see if you guys can guess which song it is. Thank you for all the support you've shown me, and enjoy the chapter!**

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As soon as Judy saw Nick's last finger go down, she knew there was no time to waste. In a flash, Nick jumped over the lap of the polar bear next to him, getting his attention long enough for Judy to jump up and kick the polar bear next to her in the face. Of course, being a rabbit, all it did was anger him...and that was exactly what she wanted. Just as the polar bear swiped at Judy, she held up her hands, letting his claws cut the rope holding her wrists together. Taking only a moment to admire her partial freedom, Judy watched as Nick was trying not to get hit by a polar bear of his own.

"Nick!" Judy shouted, dodging another swipe from her polar bear, this time letting him cut the ropes keeping her feet together, just making him angrier. "Jump to me!"

"No arguments there," said Nick as he jumped over the lap of the other polar bear. Judy opened the car door, grabbing Nick, and jumped out, praying that the landing wouldn't hurt them too badly. The two mammals landed on the hard sidewalk, rolling uncontrollably across the ground. It took a few seconds before they could stop themselves, and a few seconds more to shake the dizziness away. Nick finally shook his off when Judy grabbed him again, running as deep into the nearest alleyway as she could. She didn't bother checking to see if they were being chased, and didn't care. All she cared about was getting herself and Nick to safety.

They took a turn, and the alleyway opened back up into the street. Judy, still holding on to Nick lest they manage to take him again, looked out to make sure there wasn't a certain pair of polar bears waiting for them. She heard Nick suck in air through his teeth, and looked back with worry.

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking him over for any injuries.

"I'm fine," Nick said quickly. "You need to go back to your apartment, Carrots. Make sure you're not followed." Judy was taken aback. It was as if Nick was a different person. His eyes, usually sparkling mischievously, were cold and calculating. His grin had resorted to a frown so deep that it looked almost painful. Worst of all, his voice, always smooth like silk, was almost monotonous, and...even a little deeper. She had never seen this Nick Wilde. Not once. The other thing that surprised her was his total lack of regard for himself. His first instinct was for _her_ to go home and make sure _she_ was safe. He mentioned nothing of his own well-being.

"What about you?" she asked.

Nick sighed, "Carrots, just do what I say."

"No," she said stubbornly. "What are you going to do?"

"Whatever keeps me alive," he responded with a shrug of his shoulders, walking backwards away from her.

"No," she said again, grabbing the fox's arm tight enough for him to flinch a bit. " _We_ are going to my apartment because you have some explaining to do. Now, let's go." She let go of his arm, glaring at him with those determined eyes of hers. With another sigh, Nick agreed to go to Judy's apartment with her. She checked one more time for the bears before walking out next to Nick. He winced a bit, but she refrained from asking him, knowing that he wouldn't answer her now. But she would find out everything back at her apartment. This fox was not going to lie to her anymore. The two partners were deathly silent, hurrying down the sidewalk.

Judy glanced at Nick periodically to check for any signs that would suggest an attempt to get away from her and hide. That was something she couldn't understand when it came to Nick. He always wanted to make sure she was out of danger. Whenever stuff hit the fan in the night howler case, Nick always refused to leave her behind. Mr. Manchas, for example. She told him to go, yet he couldn't bring himself to get on the gondola and leave. Of course, Judy had done her fair share of saving his life. And now, Nick was telling Judy to go hide in her apartment while he did whatever it was he had planned on doing. No matter. If Nick was going to do anything dangerous, there was no way she was going to let him do it without her. That was just what partners did for each other, and her slick friend was going to have to get used to that.

They continued their silent walk, keeping an eye on their surroundings to make sure they weren't being followed. When they arrived at Judy's apartment building, Nick opened the door for his partner, giving her a faltering smile. She eyed him carefully as she walked passed him, making sure he stuck right with her the whole time.

"Oh come on, Carrots, if I were going to run away I would have done it already," Nick said with a tone that sounded like he was making a joke. Judy didn't respond. She just continued across the empty lobby, save for Dharma, the owner of the Grand Pangolin Arms. Nick greeted her with a wave, to which she lazily waved back, looking at a magazine at her desk. Nick followed Judy up the stairs to her apartment, dreading what was to come. She was not acting like the optimistic, borderline annoying little bunny he was used to. That determined look in her eyes told him all he needed to know. She was going to ask him a barrage of questions...especially when she saw his back. Judy opened the door to her apartment, stepping aside, signaling for Nick to go in first. He smiled, making a largely dramatic gesture to the room with his arm.

"Ladies first," he said with a short bow. His eyebrow was raised expectantly, knowing that Judy would give in and go first. But she didn't. She just tapped her large foot, waiting for Nick to go in first. 'Better now than never,' thought the fox with a small grimace, fighting another wince as a shot of pain went up his back again. He walked to the door until he was facing his grey-furred friend, before finally turning to go in, revealing the four large cuts going down his back. As expected, Judy gasped, immediately closing the door behind herself, releasing the same question over and over.

"Are you okay?" she asked for what must have been the fourth time before Nick could reassure her that it wasn't bad. "Not bad?! Oh, you dumb fox, how could you not tell me about this?" She lead him to the bathroom and turned on the bright light to get a better look. "Well, it's not bleeding, that's good. They are kind of deep, though. They shouldn't scar, but that doesn't mean it won't be sore for a while. She forced Nick to sit down on the bathroom counter, spouting different rhetorical questions, the most prominent of which consisted of "Why didn't you tell me?" She wasn't panicking, though. She was, in fact, keeping her cool quite well. That didn't mean she wasn't offended at her partner's complete disregard of himself.

The whole time, Nick was leaned against the wall, waiting for a chance to tell her that it wasn't serious, but there was no stopping her now. She had finally stopped fussing at him, taking the time to reach in her medicine cabinet to take out some disinfectant spray and bandages.

"Carrots, honestly, the cut isn't even that deep. It'll heal on its own. I don't need disinfectant, and I especially don't need bandages. All I need is for you to forget about my back so that we can focus on the events of an hour ago."

"I'd love to believe that, Nick, but I don't know if you're just lying to me again or not," Judy said, hopping up on the counter to treat Nick's back wound, speaking so casually and matter-of-factly that they may as well have been discussing current events.

"What do you mean?" Nick asked in fake ignorance. He was caught, he knew that, but darn if he wasn't going to ride it out for as long as possible.

Judy sprayed the disinfectant on the wound through the cuts in his shirt, earning a small wince that was almost unnoticeable.

"You lied to me about your friend, Nick. You told me that he kept up with things, that he would know about my job at the ZPD, and even yours. But he didn't even know who I was. So, that means you owe me an explanation. First of all, how did you _really_ get those scratches on your face? Why did you lie about them? When did the polar bear claw your back? And do you know who is behind our attempted kidnapping? And Nick? Don't lie to me this time. Let's not forget who's holding a big can of disinfectant over your sensitive wounds. Take your shirt off so I can wrap the bandage around you."

With a sigh of defeat, Nick took off his shirt, and sat up straight so that Judy could properly bandage the wound. He took a large breath. It wasn't like he was telling her his entire past, but one question would lead to another. This naturally curious bunny would continue until he was drained of anything to tell her. But he knew she deserved the truth. He couldn't imagine how hurt she really was to be lied to by the ex-con who had supposedly changed.

"Well, let's start with the easier questions. One, the polar bear clawed my back just as we were jumping out of the car. No, I don't know who's behind all of this. There are a lot of people that use polar bears in their crimes. They're strong, feared, and if you throw them a fish or two, their putty in your paws. What I do know is that whoever is behind this is new on the streets. These bears made several stupid mistakes. They didn't bag you, and they didn't keep the bag on me, so that left the both us able to memorize where we were going and how we were getting there. They didn't tie me up at all, or check to make sure I was actually out. They were sitting next to each other with us on each side of them. We were both right next to the doors, which were both unlocked, giving us the chance to jump out. They carelessly carried us out of the hotel, letting everybody see us. But I doubt anyone did anything. Like I said, polar bears are pretty feared, at least the ones who work for a crime boss.

"He doesn't even seem to be familiar with you, as far as we know, yet he obviously has something against me. But if he's knew, I couldn't have done anything to bother him. I don't get it." Judy finished bandaging up his back, and Nick put his shirt back on. His head bowed in thought.

"You're not done yet, Nick. You need to answer my other questions," Judy said, walking into her main room, grabbing a blueberry flavored water from the mini-fridge for Nick to sip on. He opened it immediately and kept drinking it until it was all gone. At this point, he was stalling. The sly fox couldn't think of a way to wriggle out of this one. Not this time. That was scary, even for him.

"The scratches on my face...I...I wasn't lying to you when I said they were self-inflicted." Judy kept quiet, sitting on her bed while Nick leaned into the wall, looking at the empty bottle of water. "I have...an anxiety disorder caused by events in my life that I would prefer not to disclose at this time. Because of this, I occasionally have panic attacks. Really, really bad panic attacks. The scratches on my face were because I was having a flashback of when I was a kid. I could feel the muzzle on me again, Judy. I thought I was back against those stairs, desperately clawing it off. Except, there was nothing there, and I was just clawing my face." Nick waited a few seconds, staring at his bottle, almost wishing that he could hide inside it. He felt his heart start to beat a bit faster. He hoped that it wasn't what he thought it was, and silently took some deep breaths to slow it back down.

Eventually, when the silence became unbearable, he looked up from his bottle at Judy, who was staring at him with an indescribable expression. Her mouth was slightly agape, and she was staring at him like he was a completely different person. That's what he was scared of. He knew this would happen. Nick tried not to scorn himself out loud for scaring Judy away. She would never look at him the same now.

Judy cleared her throat, "I didn't know. I didn't know that night with those kids had affected you so badly."

"It wasn't just the kids. It wasn't just the muzzle. That was terrifying and all, but it didn't stop there."

"What else happened?"

"I answered your question, Judy. I don't have to tell you everything else." Judy flinched. She had finally gotten what she asked for. So why did she feel so bad about it? Nick tossed the bottle behind him without looking, somehow managing to land it in the trashcan, and crossed his arms.

"Do you have any kind of medication for it? The anxiety, I mean," Judy asked nervously. Nick looked at her with empty eyes. She had gone over the line this time. Still, he gave another sigh, and opened his mouth to answer.

"I don't, and I'm not going to. These panic attacks don't happen often and they don't last long. Besides, the side effects on those medicines are worse than the anxiety itself."

Judy stood up slowly from her bed, walking to her best friend. She looked him in his eyes, but he seemed to be lost in thought again. She wrapped her arms around him, wishing that she could squeeze all of the pain he must've been feeling out of him. But the moment her arms touched his sides, he recoiled, jumping back away from it. He looked down for a bit, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"I don't need your pity, Carrots. That's why I don't like to talk about my problems. Everyone feels bad for me and wants to hug me and comfort me. I hate it." Judy wanted to be insulted by that, but she understood. There was no bitterness in his voice when he spoke. She remembered when she touched his arm on the gondola, and he looked at her like she was crazy for a second before changing the subject. As if on cue, Nick's eyes lit back up and he clapped his hands together. It was like a switch had been flipped.

"So," he said excitedly, opening her fridge, "you got any food here? We can't try to solve this case without some brain food."

"I'm sorry that you go through that, Nick. Maybe you could go to a doctor, and he could give you some kind of treatment." She heard a laugh come from the fridge.

"Come on, Carrots, I told you, it's not that bad. Doctors aren't going to do anything. And even if they would, they certainly wouldn't do it for a fox. Think about it. Prey has to go into a room with a predator, alone, and tell them news that they don't want to hear. Doesn't sound like something I'd want to be involved in." Nick had his famous smile back on, explaining these things to Judy as if it was the happiest subject on the planet.

She wanted to say something else, but what could she say? Nick was at a point now where he would redirect everything to a different topic.

"Look, Carrots, I'm sorry I lied to you about the scratches, okay? I just didn't think it was something worth worrying about. I won't lie to you again, I promise. Unless it's for good cause, like a surprise birthday party or something. You understand." Judy, after hearing that sad piece of information about her best friend and partner in the world, couldn't suppress a laugh at his birthday comment. She watched him take out a bag of carrots from the fridge. "Uh, no offense, fluff, but do you have anything besides carrots?" He held up the bag for her to see. Judy giggled again.

"Second shelf, behind the carrot juice," she said, watching Nick narrow his eyes at her as if to say "Seriously?" The fox was about to make a joke about Judy eating too many carrots, when he saw a carton of strawberries, and another blueberry water.

"You're the best, Carrots," Nick said, taking a large bite of a strawberry. "So, what's the plan?"

"Well, the only thing I can think of now is to go ask Mr. Big if he's heard of any new people on the streets. If anyone knows something, it's gotta be him, right?" Nick shrugged, eating another strawberry. Judy watched his eyes light up at the bitter flavor of the fruit, wondering how long he had been dealing with panic attacks bad enough to make him hurt himself like that. She had never noticed scratches like that on him before. Did that mean that they were getting worse? And he said that it wasn't just the incident with the muzzle that affected him so badly. There were other events in his life that triggered such awful attacks. She wanted to know so badly what they were, but Nick would never tell her. Frankly, she was surprised she'd managed to get him to tell her what he did.

She felt so bad for her partner. She wanted to hug him and tell him everything was okay, but he would never let her. He hated being comforted. He hated it when people felt sorry for him. On any other circumstance, he may have given Judy a hug. He gave her one when she apologized to him under that bridge for offending him the way she did at the conference. That one moment when she reached for her fox repellant would forever remain fresh in her mind. Nick may have forgiven her easily enough, but she had to learn to forgive herself for doing such a thing.

'Did Nick have a panic attack after I almost pulled the fox repellant on him? Was that why he left so quickly? Did he feel it coming?' she thought with horror.

"You feeling alright there, Carrots?" Nick asked her, putting the carton of strawberries back into the fridge, sipping on his blueberry water.

"Yeah," she said with an optimistic smile. "Just thinking about this case, that's all." Nick crossed his arms, feeling something in his shirt pocket.

"At least we still have the flash drive," he said, taking it out if the pocket, a look of surprise coming to his face.

"What is it?" Judy asked, watching the smile on Nick's face grow.

"Sly wolf," he said with a laugh, flipping the flash drive around for Judy to see. She smiled when she saw the name written on it:

 _Rick Howlens_

"He gave me his flash drive," said Nick. "I can't believe I didn't notice it earlier."

"Well, we were a bit busy being kidnapped."

"True." Nick flipped the flash drive over in his hand again. "We need to see what's on this." Judy looked down nervously.

"I...don't have a computer," she said with a nervous smile.

"I figured that. You can't really hide anything in this place," Nick said. "But...I do have a computer at my apartment. It's too dangerous to go now, but maybe we can drive by there on the way to Mr. Big's tomorrow morning."

"Yeah," she said, feeling embarrassed that she didn't have a computer to use. "Or we can just go to the precinct and use the computers there."

"Well, if it's all the same to you, Carrots, I think it would be easier to have my laptop for this," Nick said casually.

"Oh, okay," she said. "Well, if we're going to go in the morning, we'd better go ahead and get some sleep." Nick nodded, and they both freezed when they turned towards the bed. Judy could feel a bit of redness in her cheeks, while Nick seemed unfazed as usual. If it wasn't for the orange fur, Judy would see the bit of redness on his cheeks as well.

Without a word, Nick lay down on the floor, using his arm as a pillow, "Night, Carrots." Judy was a bit surprised. Was Nick really willing to just sleep on the floor like that? She really needed to get a couch, if she could fit one in this apartment.

"Nick, are you sure-"

"I've slept in worse places, Carrots, believe me, I'm fine," Nick said with finality. Still, it was such a sad sight to see, watching her friend sleep on the hard, uncomfortable floor.

"Well," she said, going to her closet that was across from the foot of her bed. "At least take these." Judy grabbed a spare pillow and blanket and tossed them to Nick. His sly smile reappeared, except there was a bit of gratitude in it. But he didn't bother making a snarky comment, nor did he look back up at her. His eyes were focused on the pillow and blanket as if he was remembering something fondly.

He shook the thoughts out of his head, and lay back down with his pillow and blanket, definitely much more comfortable. Judy hopped up in her bed, moving around until she was comfortable. Nick waited until he heard light snoring that he moved to a position on his back, looking up at the ceiling. This brought back a few good memories. Well, technically those few were pretty much the only good memories, especially from childhood. It may have been a simple act of kindness to give him more comfort as he slept, but it meant more to the fox than Judy would ever know. Only two other people had cared about him so much as to do such a thing.

Nick rested his head against the pillow, letting his smile grow at the thought of Judy and how much she cared about him. He rejected her comfort, lied to her, and probably hurt her feelings, but she seemed to forgive him quite fast, and even continued to be a good friend to him.

'Maybe letting her in isn't as bad as I think it is. Maybe one day I can sit her down and tell her everything. And if she wants to leave after that, then I won't blame her. I'll just accept it and move on. Good night, Judy Hopps.'

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 **So, Nick finally revealed a little bit about himself. But there are still unanswered quesitons. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Thank you all for the unwavering support! Maybe it's just me, but I keep feeling like there's something missing in my writing style. If you guys have any critique or suggestions, don't be afraid to write it in the comments.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the rights to this movie. The only character I own is Rick.**

 **Thanks to everyone for the support you've given me and my story. You guys motivate me to keep writing another chapter. Speaking of which, here's chapter five for you guys! Enjoy! Let me know if you see any mistakes that I can correct!**

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The rays from the newly rising sun shone through the window onto a sleeping fox's face. It took a few seconds for him to acknowledge it and half-mindedly swipe at it as if it were an insect trying to bother his blissful sleep. Unable to swat away the pesky sun, Nick turned over, a bit more awake thanks to the ball of fire in the sky that decided to wake him up at such an early hour.

"You really need to get some curtains, Carrots," said Nick, his voice dripping with sleepiness. "Carrots?" Nick groaned and turned over again, sitting up to avoid the rays of the sun as much as possible. Judy wasn't in her bed. Nick looked over at her closet, spotting her police uniform.

'At least she didn't go to the precinct without me. Not that I would've cared,' thought the fox. As he was rubbing his eyes, he heard the door open, and in walked the very bunny that changed his life for the better. Judy was holding a grocery bag with that overly cheery smile on her face. As much as Nick hated mornings, he couldn't help but send her a tired smile of his own, and then a loud yawn.

"I got some things for you since you're going to be staying here a bit," Judy said, placing the bag down on the desk, looking very proud of herself.

"I hope you bought curtains. Your neighbor, the sun, is why I'm awake right now," Nick joked, too tired to add a sly smile.

"Thank you, sun," said Judy with a laugh. "Maybe this will cheer you up." As if from nowhere, Judy handed Nick a cup of coffee. His eyes immediately lit up, grabbing the warm styrofoam cup and taking a careful sip.

"Is this from that new place down the street?" Nick asked with another sip. He smacked his lips a few times. Was that hazelnut?

"Yep, good huh? I already had mine on the way here." Nick ignored Judy, taking sip after sip of pure bliss. "I don't think I'll be able to fit in a morning run today." She looked at the time on her phone. Nick watched her put the phone back down and start emptying the bag. Lettuce, broccoli, mushrooms, and other varieties of vegetables were taken out and put in her tiny fridge. Once all of the items were in their proper places in the fridge, Judy looked at the very last item in the bag, reluctantly putting her hand inside to grab it. Her orange furred friend immediately noticed the hesitation. That was something he learned from surviving on his own. No matter how distracted, he always tried to notice strange behavior. And that one hesitation was as obvious as putting up a neon sign while singing a Gazelle song. The fox's partner took a deep breath, before planting a smile on her face. Nick had a half smile and a raised eyebrow of curiosity.

"Did you get me a present, Carrots?" his voice was full of sarcasm, but she heard an almost shakiness in it. Was Nick Wilde _nervous?_ Did he know? He wasn't stupid, but he wasn't psychic either.

"While I was there, I saw this all natural-um...well, this," Judy said, taking the item out of the bag for Nick to see. He stared at it blankly, the remnants of his expectant smile still present, as if he hadn't actually processed what was happening. It was an all-natural stress relieving medicine in the form of chews. "I figured-"

Nick laughed suddenly, interrupting what she was about to say, "Come on, Carrots, I know being a police officer can be a lot of work, but you don't need that. You always know how to keep your cool."

"Nick, this isn't for m-"

"I know who it's for, Carrots," Nick said, shaking his head, unable to make a joke at the current moment. Again, he was feeling that regret for telling his partner that stupid secret. "Oh well, we'll just have to return it to the store on the way to my apartment." He planted his smile back on. "Speaking of which, we really should be going. Ready?" Not waiting for an answer, Nick headed out the door, leaving Judy to throw the grocery bag away. She would just "forget" to bring the receipt. Maybe she could convince him to take the medicine. He wouldn't have to worry about side effects or anything, but Judy knew that that wasn't what was bothering him anymore. He still knew that she felt bad for him. She slipped the small container of medicine in her back pocket, joining her friend in the hall, his sly grin looking as authentic as ever. Well, it _looked_ authentic, at least.

The two walked out of the apartment building and made their way down the street until they spotted a taxi cab nearby. They flagged down the driver, who was a pig, and got in. Nick told him the address of his apartment, and the pig silently sent the vehicle forward, heading towards wherever this fox wanted to go. As wordless as the pig was, Judy noticed the dirty look he gave her partner in the rearview mirror.

"So, Nick, how have your first days been in the ZPD?" Judy asked loud enough for the pig to hear. His eyes flashed with a bit of fear and embarrassment as he suddenly focused solely on the road, never once daring to glance back into the rearview mirror.

"Pretty good, I guess," Nick said, seemingly not noticing the encounter Judy just had with the driver. "The big cases are fun and all, but I would like something a little less life threatening next time." Judy laughed in agreement. It was supposed to be a simple string of robberies, but this was definitely becoming something more. She only hoped that Mr. Big had something that would help them. Besides, maybe she would get to see Fru Fru again.

Nick was looking at the back of the driver's seat a bit more intently than he should've been, but he was just lost in thought. Judy wondered what it was like, never telling anyone about his problems. Not only making sure that people didn't see that they got to him, but never trusting anyone enough to speak of his traumas and fears. For all Judy knew, this fox next to her could have been mentally organizing all of the emotional traumas he'd experienced over the years. Nick was the closest friend she had ever had in her entire life, and yet she knew almost nothing about him. The saddest part was that she probably knew more about him than anyone else.

Judy didn't realize that she was staring at this fox the same way he was staring at the seat, the both of them completely lost in the labyrinth of their own minds. Neither was sure how long they had been doing it, but once the taxi driver announced their arrival at the destination, they both returned to reality. Without hesitation, Nick told Judy to stay in the car while he got his stuff.

"Let me come with you," she said simply, taking off her seatbelt.

"You're really anxious to see my apartment, huh, Carrots? Are you stalking me now?" he asked with the most evil little smirk, like a little child about to pull the biggest prank in the world. "Don't worry, I'll give you the grand tour when this is all over." And just like that, Nick got out of the car, watching to make sure no traffic was coming, and headed straight into the apartment building. He put on his shades that Judy didn't remember him bringing, keeping as low of a profile as he could. He took casual, lazy glances around before entering.

'Slick little fox,' Judy thought with a mischievous grin. That grin of his annoyed her sometimes, but she was starting to love it more and more. Her own silly grin at the fox's cheerful nature disappeared when she remembered that maybe he wasn't always that cheerful. 'Maybe he really is cheerful at heart,' Judy thought hopefully. 'Sure, he has panic attacks, but maybe he doesn't let it depress him.' The rabbit's head started to hurt from all of the heavy thinking about her partner. He really was a slick fox, managing to confuse Judy beyond reason, even when he _did_ decide to open up to her a bit.

Nick stepped into the apartment building, looking around carefully, calculating the every move of every mammal from prey to predator. He stuck to the walls, walking casually, letting his peripheral vision do the work for him. No mammal got close to him, not that he would allow it, anyway. The lobby was semi-crowded this morning, not making things much easier, but helping him all the same. If anyone was looking for him, they would have to look past everyone else first. Nick took a glance above, as if expecting there to be someone dangling from the ceiling, watching him.

In a way, he was kind of walking down memory lane. He remembered his first days out on the streets. He would do this exact thing, walking into a place, checking for guards, cameras, and marks. People to scam or trick. He couldn't say with confidence that he missed such a life, but at the same time, it was a way for him to survive, and a way to show the mammals just how shifty he could be once they realized they had been hustled. The best part of such a job was that he had been virtually untouchable, except for the whole felony tax evasion thing. Even Finnick warned him about it occasionally, and that was the fox that didn't waste any time in hitting mammals with his bat...repeatedly.

Nick decided the elevator was a bad move. Someone could be waiting for him, and stop the elevator mid-lift, leaving him open for an ambush. With the stairs, there was less traffic, and more room for him to make someone fall down them. It was a dark observation, but a necessary one, as Nick had never been much of a fighter. He had claws and teeth, but his frame was overall quite small. He doubted he would be able to throw a very strong punch. In the academy, he had actually managed to talk a few of the less intelligent mammals not to fight him…and that was in the _ring._ His polar bear instructor was always speechless when he did this. She couldn't technically scorn him for talking his way out of a fight, as she had previously taught that in the field, it is best to try and avoid a fight if possible. But, at the same time, this was the ring, a place specifically designed to teach cadets about hand-to-hand combat.

Of course, Nick did get unlucky enough to have to fight some mammals. It didn't help that the first opponent he couldn't talk out of a fight was a lion who put earplugs in under the instructor's orders. With no ability to talk his way out, and not being allowed to use his God-given claws and teeth, obviously, he was forced to dodge every attack until the lion got worn out. At that point, all Nick did was dodge one last attempted blow, and the lion tripped over himself, hitting his head on one of the posts. Even when he was in the car with the polars bears, Judy actually fought hers off, while Nick simply jumped and dodged his polar bear's attacks.

So far, so good. Nick was at his apartment, looking both ways, making sure that nobody would surround him, and checked the door for any signs of forced entry. Nothing. He took his keys out and unlocked his door as quietly as possible, praying to anything that would listen that the door wouldn't creak. Unfortunately, a dull creak did rear its ugly head when the door was about half-way opened. He took one more look around before slipping into the room, closing the door quietly behind him, taking the extra precaution to lock it. Slowly, he padded his way to each room, checking for any nasty surprises. It didn't take long, as his apartment was a bit spacious with few rooms. The kitchen and living room were one big open space. There was a hallway on each side of the apartment. One lead to his bedroom and bathroom, the other led to the laundry room, closet, and extra room that he never used for anything. After checking the apartment thoroughly, Nick felt safe enough to walk normally, heading straight for his bedroom.

As soon as he walked in, he noticed that nothing had been changed. The bed was unmade and littered with old clothes. An empty pizza box and soda can lay on the floor next to it. He looked up a bit. There it was. His laptop, still plugged in, ready to be taken. Nick grabbed a suitcase and packed a few necessities, such as clothes, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and other things. After zipping the suitcase up, he grabbed his laptop and put it in its own case, putting it around his shoulder. Before he left the room, Nick spotted his lucky tie laying on the dresser. He allowed himself a sad smile before grabbing it and tying it around his neck. Suddenly, he felt much better. The annoyance at himself for allowing Judy to know about his problem washed away as he tightened the tie securely around his neck.

With a deep breath, Nick walked out of his apartment, closing and locking the door on the way out, and headed back to the taxi. When he exited the building, he saw Judy looking at her phone in the taxi. He smiled at the bunny, wishing that he could rewind time for about the fifth time that day. He could see her worry for him every time they made eye contact. Maybe that was a comfort to some people, but to this particular fox, it was quite the opposite. And he couldn't just tell her that he hated it, for he had already done that.

'Stubborn bunny,' he thought, getting into the taxi with his laptop case on his shoulder, his suitcase in his hand, and his lucky tie around his neck.

Judy looked up from her phone, "Hey, I haven't seen that in a while." She swatted at his tie with a giggle. Nick gave her a grin while taking his laptop out. He told the taxi driver the address to Mr. Big's. The pig didn't exactly look happy about that, but drove on anyway. Nick took the flashdrive out of his shirt pocket, plugging it into the laptop. It didn't take long before a screen pulled up, showing the camera footage that they had been investigating. "That's one smart wolf."

"He learned from the best," Nick responded with a smile, clicking the play button. He fast forwarded the footage until it showed the store after hours. A little bit of waiting revealed the door opening, and in walked an all too familiar rat. Judy groaned.

"Great," she whined. "Weaselton. Why is it always Weaselton?"

"Aw, come on, Carrots, it's not that bad. At this point, I'd say that Duke Weaseldork is pretty scared of you. I trust you'll be able to get some info from him." The two watched as the spastic rat stole jewel after jewel quite clumsily. Nick was actually a bit impressed that the rat even knew how to pick locks.

"Oh well, at least we have a new lead after our current one," said Judy, refraining from directly mentioning the name of one of the most feared crime bosses in Zootopia. Nick agreed, before abruptly telling the driver to stop the car. "What is it?" Judy blurted out, looking out the window to see the drug store.

"Returning something," Nick said.

Judy pretended to look for something in her pockets, "Aw, man. I think I forgot the receipt...and the medicine. I guess you'll just have to-" Judy stopped in her tracks when she saw her friend take the receipt and medicine out of his back pocket.

"Don't worry, Carrots. I got the medicine from you while we were walking down the street, and the receipt, well, I took it from the bag before we left. You know, that bag that I heard you crumple up from the hall? Yeah, that one." Nick had a proud grin on his face, and Judy was once again left in the taxi, unable to fathom how he had slipped the receipt from that bag without making the slightest of noise, or the medicine from her pocket without her feeling it. Nick returned a few minutes later with nothing in his paws. Judy had her arms crossed, looking out the window, angry for being tricked so easily. She didn't care how sly the fox was, that didn't mean he couldn't just let her get the upper hand for once. Nick let the driver continue on his way to Mr. Big's, and Judy could feel his cocky stare burning into the back of her head. She looked at his translucent reflection in the window, spotting that self-satisfied smile.

"I was just trying to help," she whispered, partly so the driver couldn't hear, and partly because she suddenly lost the strength to speak any louder. She watched Nick's reflection become serious and somewhat grim. It was one thing for Nick to not have a witty response to something, but to not respond at all was worrying. At the very least, he would always let his smile widen as a way of "getting the last laugh" one way or another. But there was nothing. He looked down in what appeared to be shame, or maybe he was trying to think of some way to apologize to his bunny. Whatever was going on in his head, Judy felt a little better already knowing that he was taking her seriously.

"I'm sorry," he said simply with an equally low volume. After that, he sat up straight, looking back at his laptop, probably searching for some kind of extra clues. But Judy could tell, even through the reflection, that he wasn't actually focusing on anything in the laptop. He was in thought again. Judy had an awful thought pop up in her head.

'Is this going to ruin our friendship?' she thought with horror. For a second, tears threatened to blur her vision. She blinked a few times to be rid of them, but they wanted to come out badly. The realization that she could possibly lose her friend over her own nosiness made her feel dead. She couldn't go without her friend, her partner, her fox. After everything, she couldn't allow such a beautiful friendship to be tainted so easily. But at the same time, what kind of friend would she be if she let Nick suffer by himself? If he was dealing with his own personal demons, the least that the bunny could do was be his support.

She knew that he wasn't used to relying on someone, but if he just knew how wonderful it was to go through hard times with a friend, he wouldn't be so hesitant. She heard the click of a laptop closing, and watched Nick put it back into the case and lean back into his seat. A few seconds later, he started absentmindedly playing with his tie. That was new. She had never seen him do that before. His paw held onto it quite firmly, his thumb slowly going up and down, feeling the soft material.

Judy allowed herself to look away from the mirror, changing her position so that she was now facing Nick. If he noticed, he certainly didn't let her see it. Almost as if she was possessed, Judy's paw went to Nick's free one. He stopped fiddling with his tie, but still didn't look at the bunny.

" _I'm_ sorry," she said, letting go of his hand. She watched her partner take a deep breath, as if about to say something, until…

"We're here," said the driver, and the two friends looked up in surprise. Judy looked out the window, seeing that they were now in front of Mr. Big's house. How had she not noticed them entering Tundra Town? While Judy was getting out, immediately feeling grateful that she had fur to protect her from the cold, Nick grabbed his suitcase and laptop case before closing the door behind him. They both watched the pig drive away a bit faster than he should have. They hadn't even gotten to pay him.

"Ready, Carrots?" Nick asked as if their semi-awkward encounter in the car never happened. Judy never answered his question, as she noticed the gate was already opened, and there were no guards. Nick gave her a worried glance, letting her go inside first before hesitantly following. He left his luggage in a hidden spot in the bushes, so as to prevent them from being stolen. The two police officers looked around the place, searching for any sign of a guard, but there was no one.

"I have a really bad feeling about this," Judy said as they made their way to the front door of the house. She used the knocker, much to Nick's protest, and waited for any of Mr. Big's guards to open the door.

"Oh well, nobody's home, Carrots, maybe we should go talk to Weaselton now. Come on!" Nick was whispering very frantically, but Judy just ignored it, checking to see if the door was unlocked. She got her answer when she pushed it and the door opened all the way, revealing a very empty house. "Carrots!" Nick whisper-yelled, watching her walk inside. He made a few disgruntled noises before following her. He stayed as close to Judy as possible. Cop or no cop, he was still not the best under pressure.

Nick ended up having to lead Judy to Mr. Big's office, as he was more familiar with the place. Before he had sold the crime boss a rug made from the fur of a skunk's butt, Nick had learned how to get around the house quite well. It didn't take long for Nick and Judy to come face to wood with Mr. Big's office door. They still hadn't seen a single guard in the house, and it didn't help that it was extremely dark in the house, despite it being the afternoon. Judy looked at Nick one last time, before pushing the door open. At first she didn't see anything, until Nick turned the flashlight on his phone, revealing the two unconscious polar bears on the ground. Judy immediately ran to one of them, while Nick ran to the other.

"He's alive," they said at the same time. Nick was looking at the scratches and bruises the polar bear had all over him.

"Nick, over here!" Judy called. He ran to his partner's side, wondering what she saw until the polar bear Judy was crouched next to started to regain consciousness. "Are you okay?"

The polar bear looked distantly at her, "They took him. We couldn't do anything. There were just so many."

"What are you talking about?"

"Someone paid most of the guards off. We're the only ones that didn't betray Mr. Big."

"Can you describe the mammal who took him?" Nick asked. Before he could answer, the bear fell unconscious again. "I'll call an ambulance."

* * *

Judy and Nick sat on the stairs outside, watching the paramedics take the two badly beaten polar bears from the house, putting each in an ambulance of their own. Much to Nick's surprise, Judy was actually shaken up from the event. Or maybe she was just freezing from the cold of the snow. Nick put his arm comfortingly around her, bringing her closer to his side. She pushed her head as far into his warm fur as she could, not caring about the strange looks they got from the paramedics. Chief Bogo was also on his way to question them on what happened. Nick rubbed his hand on Judy's arm, reminding her that he was there for her, and creating some warmth from the friction.

"Are you feeling okay, Carrots?" Nick said.

Judy took her head from his fur, looking him in the eyes, "Whoever this mammal is, Nick, he's powerful. Everyone he deals with is afraid of him, he paid off the guards of Mr. Big and kidnapped him. If someone as intimidating as Mr. Big gets kidnapped, then what chance do we have. For all we know, he might even pay off the cops so that we can't investigate anything."

"We'll get through this, Judy. We always do." Nick watched the worry in his friend's eyes diminish. She nodded and buried her head in his fur once again, waiting for Bogo to arrive. She was glad that Nick was with her for this. She wasn't sure she would be able to do this without him.

* * *

 **There you go, guys, another chapter. I hope you enjoyed! Thanks again for all of the support you guys have given me. Don't forget, I still want to see if you guys can guess that song that describes Nick. See you guys in the next chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Zootopia, I only own Rick.**

 **LOVE ZOOTOPIA: WILL THERE BE ANY ROMANCE? To be honest with you, I'm not even sure yet. It's possible, but I guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out! :)**

 **Enjoy the chapter everyone!**

* * *

Nick and Judy were sitting quietly in the same chair in Chief Bogo's office, watching him with silent worry. The chief was rubbing his eyes with his hooves, as if unable to determine how he should approach this situation. For a moment, he glanced to the side at his wall that once held the missing mammals from the Night Howler case. With a deep sigh, he looked back at his two best officers. Judy looked very nervous, but Nick seemed as calm and uncaring as always. There was something about that fox that made Bogo respect and dislike him at the same time. One day, maybe, he would get a chance to know more about Wilde. Once Judy had proven herself to him, he decided to get to know her and her history more, as he tried to do with all of his officers.

Looking back on it, he felt guilty for treating Judy so differently from his other officers, but it just seemed so unlikely for a small bunny to be an officer at all, much less one of the best. He even found himself interested in Judy's background. Learning about her farm life and reasons as to why she became a member of the ZPD were fascinating. Of course, he never let her know that. Yes, he wanted to know about his officers and form a bond with them of sorts, but he still needed their respect...and maybe a little bit of fear.

But something about Wilde made him seem so unreachable. Every statement, question, or observation was deflected with a joke. Maybe this fox wasn't very trusting of his chief, which was understandable, as he had made it clear that foxes were untrustworthy that night that Nick and Judy had been chased by Manchas. Oh well, the fox would open up to him whenever he felt like it.

"All right," said Bogo, finally deciding that he had tortured the two with his silence long enough. "Let me get this straight. You two were nearly kidnapped by a duo of polar bears, you decided to visit a dangerous crime boss for evidence, and you found that he was kidnapped by a large majority of his own men." Judy nodded with a "Pretty much", while Wilde still remained unmoving in his side of the chair. At least he didn't have that annoying smile on.

Bogo sighed, "I would mention your lack of a warrant to search the place, but I think the absence of guards, and the gate being open should be enough to pass as probable cause. What's most important to me at the moment is how you managed to get kidnapped. Where were you and what were you doing?" Judy resisted looking at Nick. She wasn't exactly against the idea of ratting out Nick's friend for allowing them to be taken, but after his help with the case and apparent unwilling cooperation with the polar bears in the first place, she couldn't find the strength to do it. Besides, if Nick thought it best to tell Bogo about Rick, he would have done it already. Still, she couldn't just lie to the chief, or even avoid the truth. As much as she hated it, the chief needed to know everything. Any single piece of information could be vital in solving this case, and Judy knew that.

"Well," Judy started, looking over at Nick. Again, he was lost in thought. No wonder he was being so quiet, "you see, sir, we were following a lead on the robberies, and when we got to the lead, there were polar bears waiting for us. They did attempt to kidnap us, but we managed to escape."

"And what was this lead you were following?"

Judy took another careful glance at Nick. He still appeared to be in thought, but his ears had perked up. He was _listening_ , perhaps even pretending to be in thought just to see what she would tell Bogo. "We were looking for this gray wolf by the name of Rick. You see, Nick noticed that the camera footage from one of the stores that were robbed had its footage on a loop to hide the man who was stealing the jewels. We only assumed that the footage had already been looked at by our tech team, so we took matters into our own hands. We went looking for this wolf who is apparently really good with computers." Bogo stiffened, until she added quickly, "He decrypted it, sir. We know who the direct robber is, except we think that this is definitely not a one man job."

Bogo stared at Judy for a long time, and then he gave Nick a strange glance. "Who was the one stealing the jewels?" he asked.

"Duke Weaselton, sir," Judy responded in a manner that she found a bit too formal, even though she was talking to her chief. Bogo groaned when she said that name. Weaselton was known at the precinct as the most annoying criminal in Zootopia, simply because of how pathetic he was. Regardless, Weaselton had a bad habit of committing small crimes for a larger purpose. His supposed moldy onion escapade months ago turned out to be Night Howlers that had not yet bloomed.

"This 'Rick' you're talking about. Are you saying that he set you up to be kidnapped from those polar bears?"

"No, sir. We believe that he was being forced to commit crimes under their watchful eye. I'm not sure if they were there by coincidence, or if they knew we were coming, but whoever these guys are working for...he's after Nick. When we were there, the polar bears went directly for him. They didn't know who I was at all. I don't have any evidence to back that up, but I do have major concerns about it, sir." At that, the fox could no longer pretend to be in thought. He looked up at Judy with surprise that he didn't even try to hide. After the surprise, came an angry glare, then nothing.

"What is this wolf's last name?"

Judy gave Nick a pleading look, and he didn't look away from her when he said, "Howlens."

"Well then," said Bogo. "I'm going to send some officers to bring Mr. Howlens for questioning and protection. Afterwards, Wilde, we're going to talk about what we are to do with you being a potential target." Nick was still staring at Judy, not even acknowledging the chief standing up and leaving the room to send some officers to Rick. As soon as the door closed, Nick's muzzle crinkled with annoyance, showing his fangs. Judy couldn't push down the slight feeling of fear at the fox's silent snarl. She knew that he would never hurt her, and she refused to make the same mistake that she did at the conference, but that same fear that prickled up her spine was present.

"How could you do that?" he asked, looking directly into her lavender eyes.

"Nick, I protected your friend. When the officers get to him, they'll take him from the polar bears."

Nick sighed, his snarl gone, replaced by another blank face, "First off, Carrots, if this guy could pay off almost all of Mr. Big's guards, what's stopping him from paying off the cops. Rick's better off working for them, at least until we catch whoever's behind this. Second of all, I'm not even angry about that. What I'm angry about is that you told the chief that they were after me."

"They _are_ after you, Nick!" Judy exclaimed in worry.

"You don't know that!"

"But you do!" Judy yelled. "If you didn't know, you wouldn't have told me to go to my apartment that night while you stayed behind and got yourself killed."

"So this is, what, revenge? Are you just trying to get back at me for telling you to save yourself? Judy, you're right, okay? Whoever this guy is, he's looking for me. At least, I think he is. But you know what? He's after you now. You've been investigating this with me, and he may not know who you are, yet, but he might soon enough. He'll be after you too, Judy. If you think you're going to get Bogo to take me off the force, then he'll have to take you off too."

"I don't want him to take you off the force! I just want him to give you a break until we find the guy who's after you."

"He's after _both of us_!" Nick hissed. "Do you know what that means, Fluff? That means you and me. I'm not leaving this investigation, and neither are you. And think about it. Let's just say that he's after just me. If you put me in hiding, he won't bother doing anything else. You won't be able to find him. Did you think about that?" Judy was quiet. Everything about Nick was different. Just like that night when he told her to leave him. He hopped off the chair, turning away from the bunny, revealing the four gashes in the shirt he had yet to change out of. Judy could see the bandages underneath them. His ears were flatter than ever, and he turned back at her with empty eyes. His smile was gone, replaced by a frown that would rival Bogo's, except this wasn't an angry frown. It was almost sad. Vulnerable. Even his posture was more hunched than usual.

'Well,' she thought, 'I wanted to see the real Nick, but is this him? Is this the vulnerable Nick Wilde that I've been trying to squeeze out of him?' In these moments that Nick completely changed like this, it usually meant that he felt utterly betrayed. That's when Judy felt the guilt. He felt betrayed by her again. 'When will I stop doing that?'

"I...don't want you doing this case without me, Carrots. If something happened to you and I weren't there to stop it...I don't know what I'd do. You've been acting so weird, lately. Listen, I know you're just trying to know more about me, I get that. But do we really have to focus on what happened in the past? It's in the past for a reason, so there's no point in talking about it. You don't want to go there, Judy. It's a dark place...really dark, and I don't know if I'll be able to come back to the light after talking about it. It's not like I'm telling you what I had for breakfast last week...when I talk about these things, I don't just say it, I relive it. When I told you about the Ranger Scouts, I...was there again. I had the muzzle on, I was getting beaten, and I was outside the building, crying my little eyes out. It's like…"

"Like when you have the panic attacks," Judy finished, finally realizing. "But what about the jokes, the remarks, the sly smile you always have on?"

"It's not fake, Carrots...not all of the time. I told you that night on the gondola, things don't get to me anymore. Well, most things, at least. Sometimes, there are certain triggers that I can't hide no matter how hard I try. I'm slipping, I guess. I used to be so good at this stuff." Nick laughed darkly. "Maybe I'm just becoming emotional like you." He had on a small smile, and Judy allowed herself to give him a small smile back.

She hopped out of her own chair, walking towards Nick carefully. The last time she tried to comfort him, he recoiled. His head was down in thought. All he did was mention that he had a past, and he was already probably reliving it.

"Nick," Judy said, trying to get his attention. "Nick?" Judy's hand slowly made contact with Nick's shoulder. Immediately, he tensed, and her hand started to jerk back, but her partner grabbed it before it could move away from his shoulder. They both stood there for at least a minute, Nick's hand keeping Judy's on his shoulder. Judy took this moment to wrap her other arm around his waist, and he didn't resist this time. He did let go of her hand, allowing her to wrap both arms around her fox friend in a comforting hug which he returned in silence. "Thank you for telling me," Judy said.

"You're welcome," Nick said, "you emotional bunny, you." He rubbed the top if her head, messing up her fur. Judy laughed and snuggled deeper into Nick's side, tightening her hug. After all of the awful events they had been through in the past few days, this one moment almost made it worth the hardships.

* * *

It had been a few hours since Judy and Nick's hug, and they were both sitting in their office, typing on their respective computers. Judy had taken the flash drive from Nick's laptop case, which was sitting right next to him at his computer, along with his luggage. She was looking at the footage of Weaselton, while Nick was playing online poker. They were both really just passing the time until the officers came back with Rick. Also, Bogo hadn't come back yet to give Nick his decision. Judy would vouch for her fox, making sure that he could continue the investigation with her.

She sneaked a glance over at her friend, watching the satisfied smile crawl across his face as he won another game. She could tell that the fox was already feeling better after finally letting Judy know the reason why he didn't talk about his past. Nick knew now that Judy would stop constantly hounding him about such things. He could finally go back to making awful jokes, poking fun at his friend, and continuing his work as a police officer. Admittedly, while he knew Rick would not be happy in the slightest from seeing the cops, and finding out that Nick was one, he was still glad that he would be able to see the gray wolf again under better circumstances.

He watched as another poker game started with some random mammal somewhere in the world, starting to get bored of winning so easily. He needed an opponent that could actually give him a challenge. Finnick was okay at the game, but Nick would have to let him win sometimes, as the fennec fox wasn't a very good sport.

The only mammal in Zootopia that Nick could think of that could fairly beat him at poker was Mr. Big. Of course, that was before the skunk butt rug. In a way, since his friendship with the crime boss was somewhat restored, he found himself quite worried for the shrew. Judy never mentioned it, but he could only guess her worry for Fru Fru and her husband.

'And her baby,' Nick thought with a shudder. Mr. Big and Rick were both living proof that these polar bears weren't just after Nick. That made him wonder who they could have been working for. What was one mammal in Zootopia that polar bears would work for? Maybe that wasn't the most valid question, as Mr. Big could be easily crushed by his own men, yet they followed him...well, they used to. Nick had to wonder for a moment, and just a moment about who this mammal could have been. Was he new? Was _he_ actually a _she_?

Nick supposed that they could ask Rick, but he doubted that this new crime boss would want Rick to see him. Then again, he was a bit clumsy. He made quite a few mistakes in the attempted kidnapping of Nick and Judy. Mistakes that the fox was quick to point out. Perhaps Rick did know what this new guy looked like. If not, he and Judy would just have to find Weaselton and ask him a few questions. That wouldn't be as easy without Mr. Big to scare him into giving answers, but they could find a way.

"Could you teach me how to play that?" Judy asked suddenly. Nick looked over at her, laughing at the tired look on her face. She was obviously sick of watching the same footage over and over.

"Sure, come over here," Nick responded. Judy's face lit up a bit and she scooted her chair over. Nick was about to start teaching her the basics of the game, until Chief Bogo poked his head in and knocked on the edge of the opening in the office cubicle. Judy immediately zoomed back over to the footage, pretending like she hadn't been about to play games with Nick, and turned around to face her chief.

"Chief," Judy said, "you're back." Bogo glanced at the screen that still had poker on it as Nick was casually clicking off of it. He shook his head before shifting his weight.

"Wilde, I've done some thinking about you being on this case," Bogo started, when Judy stood from her chair.

"Chief Bogo, it was wrong of me to say that Nick was a target of these polar bears, sir. He has just as much of a right to be on this case as I do," the bunny said, for once not intimidated in the slightest by the chief's sheer size. Nick was even impressed at the action.

"Your input is noted, Hopps, but I think you should let me finish before you stand up and make statements that could get you on parking duty," Bogo shot back. Judy sat back in her chair, embarrassed, but still ready to stand up again if this didn't go the way she wanted. "I may have assigned you this investigation, Wilde, but I've decided to let you choose whether you want to be involved in it or not. Even if you're not the only target, I am inclined to believe that you are one of them, based on the worries of Hopps here. But I do not think I should force you out of a case that you want to participate in."

Nick blinked. He wasn't sure he believed what he had heard just yet. Chief Bogo was actually giving him a choice. That was new. He let that sly smile show up on his muzzle, and the chief groaned, already knowing what was coming.

"Well," Nick said, "I can't just leave. You'd be out of one of the best officers you have. Let's face it, chief, you couldn't handle it here without me raising your blood pressure."

"You're right about one thing, Wilde: You do raise my blood pressure. Just don't make me regret this."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Chief Cheery," Nick said with a salute. Judy almost wanted to laugh, but she was actually a bit scared for Nick's safety at that moment. He always loved pushing Bogo's patience to the limit, and stopping right when he was about to go over the edge.

Bogo stared at Nick, before finally speaking. "Since you're officially staying, I need you to question your wolf friend. We just got him back from his apartment. There were no polar bears, just a lot of tech. All legal, I'll just assume. He refuses to talk to any of us. All he does is give our officers disgusted looks."

"Yeah, he's kinda messed up. He hates daytime and cops, no offense." Nick looked at the window to see that the sun was still up. "Poor guy was probably freaking out the whole way."

"He was. We had to give him a mild sedative, but he's already gotten over it. We figured it would be best if someone he knew went to talk to him." Nick looked at Judy, who nodded at him, and told Bogo he would be there in a minute. The chief walked out without another word.

"Well," Judy said. "At least he's okay."

"Yeah, but he's not going to be happy," Nick responded, walking out of the room to join Bogo. When he left, Judy looked at his computer, thinking about that poker game. She looked at the surveillance on her computer, groaned, and then slid over to Nick's computer to give the game a try.

Nick walked out of the offices, looking around the precinct for Bogo. He saw Clawhauser on the Gazelle app on his phone. Most of the other officers were probably in their offices or on patrol, except for Fangmeyer, who walked by Nick, flashing him a friendly smile, to which Nick responded with a simple nod. He scanned across the almost deserted looking precinct until he spotted Bogo standing next to a door in one of the far corners, looking at his phone.

Nick resisted to make a joke about Gazelle with Clawhauser in the vicinity, and made his way to the chief, who looked up from his phone, and opened the door for Nick to walk in.

"Second door to the right," he said simply. Nick casually looked at Bogo's phone as he walked through the door. He caught a glimpse of a dating app, but the chief clicked his phone off and followed the fox through the door, taking the first door on the right.

'So that's where they'll be watching me interrogate my friend,' Nick thought. 'This isn't going to go well.' As soon as he stepped through the door leading to a small room that was a bit too brightly lit for its own good, he spotted his friend, Rick, looking extremely nervous. There was a metal table in the center of the room with a chair on each side. Nick took the only available chair, now facing Rick. The gray wolf looked up, his eyes widening like saucers when he saw the fox.

"Nick? Man, what are you doing here?" he asked, looking at the mirror on the wall that was actually a window leading to a grumpy buffalo. "I'd heard that you managed to escape those bears, but I didn't know the fuzz got you."

"Rick…" Nick struggled to find the words. "I need to ask you some questions."

Rick laughed a squeaky laugh, "What do you mean you gotta-" he stopped when he saw the serious look on Nick's face. "Are you...are you working with them?" Rick gestured to the mirror. Nick didn't respond. Thankfully, the gray wolf didn't freak out like he thought he would.

"Nicholas, man, we've been friends for a long time, so I'm gonna give you a chance to explain."

"Rick, I'm sorry, but I don't have time to explain, not now. I'll explain everything later, but right now I just need you to answer my questions. Please."

Rick crossed his arms, leaning back into his chair, staring at Nick with his one eye. "Fine," he said. "You can ask me whatever you want, but in return, I want protection. I don't want to ever see those polar bears ever again. And, I want a pardon for all of my past...encounters with the police."

"Already done, my friend," Nick said with a sly smile. He could almost feel Bogo's deadly gaze on him. Rick joined in with a smile of his own. "Did you manage to see the mammal who sent those polar bears to watch you?"

"No, I didn't, but I heard him. His voice was...smooth, suave, however you want to say it. He sounded really fancy. He told me that he had a job for me, of course I wasn't going to deny good money. Unfortunately, I had no idea I would have a group of huge bears watching me the whole time. Man, it was awful. I couldn't sleep, I didn't trust the food they gave me, but I ate it anyway. They wanted me to mess with some footage on a few shops and stores. Simple enough. I did the job, and afterwards, more polar bears came. Not long after that, here comes Nick Wilde with a little bunny, come to visit me. I hope you found the flash drive I gave you."

"I did," Nick said.

"Good. Anyways, after they took you, the bears just left, telling me not to say a word of anything that happened or I'd regret it. Man, I felt awful for you and that bunny. I was so glad to hear you had gotten out of that. I didn't think they'd hurt you, I just thought they wanted to use your con skills, but I still wouldn't wish those bears on my worst enemy. Even cops. That means you too, Nicky boy. After that, things were pretty quiet until the cops came to my door. I won't lie to you, that would have ended badly if they hadn't told me they were there to get me away from the polar bears."

"Thanks, Rick," said Nick, letting the story sink in.

"It's cool, I guess," Rick said. "But now, you owe me an explanation as to how and when you became a cop, Nicholas Wilde." Rick ended that with a laugh. A very long laugh. Nick snickered a bit himself at the intensity of his wolf friends laughing fit. But suddenly, the Rick's laughing turned into coughing and heavy breathing. Nick's smile left him immediately and he was at his friend's side in mere seconds.

"Rick, hey, you okay? Rick?" Nick kept trying to get the wolf's attention, but he kept coughing and choking on his own breath. With his fox ears, Nick could hear Bogo shouting something from the other room, and then someone bursting in. Nick was trying to remember all of the basic first aid from the academy, but not only could he not decipher what was even happening to his friend, but he was too busy panicking to focus on anything else. In that moment, holding his shaking friend, it was as if Nick was no longer in his own body. He had no idea how long he was staring at himself, holding his friend, but he watched paramedics rush in and grab Rick from Nick's paws, taking him away.

Nick didn't move an inch. He just watched Judy walk up next to his empty body, demanding to know what just happened. Bogo soon joined her, then Clawhauser. Judy told everyone to back up and give Nick some space. She then looked into his eyes. His empty, empty eyes, and tried to talk to him. Tried to tell him that Rick would be okay. She shook him a bit, as if trying to wake him from a dream. Nick blinked and he was back in his own body again, looking up at Judy, suddenly very tired. All the poor fox could remember after that was darkness.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia. The only character I own is Rick.**

 **I'm sorry I haven't posted for a while. School has just started back up and I'm trying to get back into that awful routine of studying and doing work! Anyways, I'm back with another chapter, and I hope you guys love it!**

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Nick Wilde was walking home from another day at school. As usual, he had been avoided or ridiculed for his species. It used to bother him so much, but nowadays it just fueled that anger he had for the bigots of Zootopia. If it wasn't for his two friends, Finnick and Flash, he would have already dropped out of school and lived his own life. He knew how to make money, thanks to his hustles with Finnick. He laughed at himself, glad that he had managed to convince the fennec fox to steal from the people in a more...refined way. Directly stealing from stores or pickpocketing people had lead them to an all-too-close encounter with the police. Luckily, they hadn't been able to see either of their faces, but Nick was _not_ going to have any more close calls like that. But as he was walking through the city, listening to the different sounds of people living their daily lives, feeling the warm concrete under his feet, he felt a bit more calm.

He would have to tell his mom that he failed his Science exam, but he knew for a fact that the teacher had done that intentionally. He had looked in his textbook to see what he had gotten wrong, and as it turned out, a few of the problems that he had gotten right, the teacher had marked off. It didn't help when he approached the horse about it, and she shrugged it off as if it were nothing, leaving a seething Nick to resist the temptation to throw her stapler at her.

The adolescent Nick kept his pace through the crowds of mammals, thinking about the day's events. Several times, he had almost told his mom about these problems, but he had vowed never to let anyone see his vulnerability. He didn't care how strange it made him seem, he wasn't about to open himself up to anyone. But sometimes his mom looked at him with sympathy, as if she knew that he was holding back. The only time Nick could remember allowing her to see him weak was that night with the scouts. He shuddered. That thought was still fresh in his mind. It had happened years ago, but the laughing, the taunting, the beating...it was still so powerful to remember.

Nick finally emerged from another insanely large crowd of animals, and could see his apartment building from across the street. He avoided another group of animals, sidestepping to the crosswalk. Looking both ways, the fox walked uncaringly to the other side of the street, sighing with a newfound sleepiness as he got closer to his apartment building. It was as if his bed had sensed his presence, and was now calling to him. He never realized how much school exhausted him until he got closer to home.

His steps now turned into lazy shuffles, Nick walked into the building and to the nearby elevator. A yawn threatening to escape him, he pressed the button, summoning the elevator to him. Except the button didn't light up like it usually did, and Nick had to look up to see the sign that read: _Out of Order_.

He was starting to get really tired now. His body and mind were ready to just shut down. With a heavy sigh, he walked to the staircase, practically dragging himself up each individual stair. All that he could think about was that he wanted to sleep forever. The idea of sleeping and never waking back up wasn't a bad idea. Not like death, just an eternal slumber. He wouldn't have to go to school, or deal with the bullies. He was finally on his own floor, feeling like he was going to collapse before he made it to his apartment.

As soon as he reached the door to his apartment, he put his hand up to the knob. But as soon as it made contact with the warm metal, he felt awake again. In fact, he felt more than just awake. He felt alert. Feeling a severe sense of dread, Nick opened the door and tried to run in, but was blinded suddenly by a severely bright light.

Nick wasn't sure what was happening, but he blinked a few times, trying to will the pain in his eyes away. A few more blinks, and he could finally see well enough to observe his surroundings. What he saw shocked him. There was a T.V hanging on the wall in front of his bed, a bouquet of flowers on a stand to his left, and to his right...a sleeping bunny in a chair. Her head was resting on the bed, her hand laying gently on his. Just like that night on the gondola.

He had no idea why, but Nick felt a strange sensation in his chest when he noticed the bunny that was so close to him. He would go as far as to say that he was even touched by the act. A small part of him was still trying to decipher whether he was still dreaming or not, but another part just wanted to go back to sleep, and let the feeling of Judy's hand around his carry him to a faraway place. He almost let his eyes close themselves, and follow what that part of his brain was telling him, until…

The fox sat up straight in bed, "Rick." He said this in a quiet manner, but the shock was no less prevalent. Nick's hand had shifted out of Judy's, and the bunny stirred a bit, but he ignored it and got out of the bed immediately. The sheets that had once wrapped him in an oddly comforting embrace were thrown off a bit violently as the fox jumped off of the bed. The sheet managed to hit Judy's head as Nick was walking out of the room, making her head shoot up sleepily. Her ears were trying to raise straight up to listen for potential threats, but she was still too groggy to manage that.

Nick passed by a mirror on the way out of the room, noticing something different about his appearance. His shirt was gone. He was still wearing the same pair of jeans, but what had happened to his shirt? The bandages had even been replaced with fresh ones. He also had a good chance to look at the very faint, but still present claw mark on his chest from the severe panic attack he'd had. The ones on his face were almost completely gone. It would be another day, perhaps, and they would finally be out of his life.

Looking around, but unable to find his shirt, Nick just stopped caring and walked outside of the room to search for his friend. To his luck, there was a nearby antelope nurse who hadn't yet noticed him.

"Excuse me," said Nick, putting a charming smile on. "Could you tell me where Rick Howlens is?" The nurse looked him up and down with suspicion in her eyes. She lingered for a few seconds on his bandages.

"Shouldn't you be in bed, sir?" she asked, still staring at the bandages wrapped around him.

"Oh, don't worry, I just got into a bit of a scuffle, that's all. Yeah, I'd say the doc patched me up pretty quick. He said it was okay of I saw a friend, and here I am. So, where do we stand on Rick Howlens?"

Right when the nurse was about to ask him to return to his room, Judy walked out, looking very tired, "Nick?" Nick silently scolded himself for not being more careful about not waking her up. He was just so desperate to see his friend.

"Hey, sleepy bunny. This kind nurse was just telling me where Rick was," Nick said, hoping that Judy would just play along.

She had already woken up a bit. That was one of the things about Judy that impressed Nick. She had taught herself to wake up fast.

"Shouldn't you be in-" Judy didn't finish when she saw the look on his face. The doctor had given her specific instructions to keep him in bed and rested, but could she really deny him the privilege of at least seeing his friend? "I mean, shouldn't you be seeing Rick right about now? Nurse, you were saying?" She put on the most innocent smile possible, and could see the thankful spark in her partner's eyes.

The armadillo looked at the two and sighed, "Well, I suppose I could let you two see him, but you're not allowed to go into the room. The doctor was very clear when he said that nobody was to disturb him." She walked down the hall, a coffee in her hand, and lead the two down the pasty white corridor, flooded with unflattering light. Nick kept eyeing the coffee in the nurse's hand, wondering where she had gotten it. He could really have used one right about then.

"How is he doing, anyway? I never really got to ask," said Judy, keeping pace beside Nick as they followed the nurse.

"Well, I think you should really ask Doctor Sheldon about that, but I do know that he needs plenty of rest, that wolf does," she responded. Nick swallowed nervously, trying to comprehend what had happened to his friend. He didn't bother asking the nurse. She would just tell him to ask the doctor, and he honestly didn't mind that. The doctor could not only tell Nick what happened to Rick, but explain the whole situation. But right now, all Nick needed was peace of mind.

"Do you know what happened to him?" Nick asked Judy quietly. The bunny gave him an apologetic look.

"No, I was a bit busy worrying about you. Chief Bogo said that he suspected some things, but he couldn't tell me until he had done some digging," she said.

"Who brought me the flowers?"

"Clawhauser," they both said at the same time.

"He was actually crying a little, you know," Judy said. "He was really worried about you…we all were."

"What about Rick? He's the one you all should've been worried about."

"Nick, you were gone. I saw you, I looked into your eyes. You were just gone, and then you passed out. Whatever happened to Rick is more predictable. It could have been a number of things...but none of us know what happened to you." She lowered her voice so much that Nick even had trouble hearing it. "That's why the doctor said you shouldn't be out of bed."

Nick was able to avoid having to reply to that because they arrived at Rick's room. While they weren't allowed to go in, as the nurse had already stated, there was a very convenient window for them to look through. Rick was so peacefully asleep in his hospital bed, as if nothing had transpired at the ZPD. Nick put his hand on the glass, wishing that there was a way that he could let Rick know that he was there. That he would make sure he got out of all of this mess.

Judy gasped in fear, and Nick had no idea what at until Doctor Sheldon appeared at their side. He didn't look angry, just a bit...irked.

"And what are we doing out of bed, Mr. Wilde?" asked the doctor, getting the fox's attention.. The nurse had already walked off and hadn't noticed the doctor's appearance, or heard what he asked Nick.

"I just-"

"Wanted to see your friend, I know," the doctor finished for him, "but the best thing you can do right now is return to your room. Once you're safely back in bed, I can tell you all about what happened to your friend and you, at least as much as I know. Deal?" Nick just looked at the doctor, turned around, and calmly walked back to his room, but not before taking another long look at his friend on the other side of the glass.

They all returned to Nick's room, and thanks to Judy, the very confused nurse had been saved form a tongue lashing by Doctor Sheldon for letting Nick out. Nick had climbed back into his bed under Judy's orders, and the duo waited patiently for the doctor to give them the news. Judy wanted to hold his hand comfortingly, but instead laid it beside her friend, hoping that he would still somehow feel its comfort.

"So, Mr. Wilde, usually this is the part where I tell my patients that I have good news and bad news. But, in this situation, I'm not really sure what kind of news this is. You see, we weren't really able to find out what happened to you. What I can only guess is that it was an evolved form of shock, but I looked at your records, and saw that you do have Generalized Anxiety Disorder, or GAD for short.

"While I would love to tell you that you were just shocked to see your friend in that state, Mr. Wilde, I suspect that this may go a bit deeper than just that. So, I am scheduling an appointment with a friend of mine who specializes in this sort of thing. It's too early to say anything right now, but I just want to be thorough and make sure that we get to the bottom of this, okay?" He smiled at Nick, and the fox smiled back somewhat insincerely. The armadillo doctor patted Nick on the knee and walked out.

Neither Judy nor Nick said anything for a few minutes, as they both suspected who this friend of the doctor's was.

"Great," Nick said, "he wants me to see a therapist."

"We don't know that for sure," Judy said comfortingly.

"No, but I don't think we should get our hopes up on it being a clown who rides a unicycle and scares children." Judy tried to smile at Nick's attempt at a joke, but couldn't. Things were getting more and more pressing in this city, to the point where Nick's jokes couldn't make her laugh. That was especially scary. "But it's fine. It's not like they can force me to go see this guy."

"Maybe...you should." Nick looked at her incredulously, his emerald eyes widening to an unnatural extent. Judy knew she had messed up now.

"Look, I'm not going to spend a good chunk of my money to talk to someone. Much less a stranger. Carrots, I know that he's a professional and all, but that makes me want to talk to him even less." Nick had his head down. Even Judy thought that he needed help. The only one that had ever believed in him wanted him to go to therapy.

"Okay," Judy said. "You won't have to, Nick. We really should start focusing on the case again, anyway." Nick was too smart for his own good, looking up at his partner with suspicion.

"You changed your mind pretty quick," he said, keeping his accusatory tone level. "What are you planning?" His smile started to appear, allowing his eyes to sparkle like they always did when he had a joke ready.

"You let me worry about that, sly fox. Now get some more rest. Whenever you feel up to it, we'll keep going with the case, provided the doctor gives the okay to remain on duty." Nick nodded. Judy suddenly threw something at him. He didn't know what it was until the soft fabric hit his hand. It was one of the shirts he had packed, and he was dumbfounded as to where she got it from when he hadn't been able to spot it. "I have your suitcase and laptop, by the way." Nick smiled, throwing the black T-shirt on.

"Snooping through my stuff, are you Carrots?" Nick asked, pulling the rest of the shirt over his stomach, his smile on in full force. Judy let a smile of her own appear, kind of disappointed that the fox hadn't left the shirt off a little longer. It's not that he was muscular or anything, it's just that the look of his small chest peeking out from the bandages made her heart skip a beat. She shook her head, clearing her mind of whatever these thoughts were that seemed to come from nowhere.

"Maybe I did. Maybe I also looked through your laptop and discovered some crippling information about you."

Nick narrowed his eyes in amusement, "So you know about my screensaver then, huh?"

"What?" Judy tilted her head in confusion, a smile still on her lips.

"Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it." Nick laid back in bed, his arms resting behind his head, looking quite pleased with himself. "Maybe if you can guess the password correctly, you'll know what I'm talking about." Judy looked at her partner, her mouth agape. Of course he would find a way to redirect her joke into a new way to torture her.

"You're just trying to rile me up," she said, catching on to the fox's plan. He just shot her a toothy grin. He never did that. All of his grins were usually casual and laid back. He must have really been enjoying himself.

"Yes, I am, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't give my screensaver a look. In fact, I have so much faith that you'll get it, I won't even give you a hint."

"Whatever, I need to go speak to the doctor and ask him when you'll be ready to leave." And with that, Judy was out of the room, and Nick was left feeling satisfied. He grabbed the remote sitting next to him, and turned the T.V on. He couldn't really remember the last time he'd had an opportunity to just sit down and watch television. He had solved the Night Howler case with Judy, gone to the Academy, come back, and was given another case that had evolved into something completely more within days of his arrival. He hadn't even gotten to see that movie with Carrots because of...events.

But after the machine was turned on, emitting a high pitched squeal before allowing the screen to light up, Nick found himself flipping happily through each of the forty channels, looking for a good show to watch.

Meanwhile, Judy was walking towards the doctor, who was looking at a clipboard at the reception desk, picking his head up occasionally to say something to the receptionist, who was a cheetah lady. Whatever the doctor had said, the woman giggled at it, in turn making him smile back. His smile made the bags under his eyes more prominent. Judy wasn't sure what time it was, but she knew that it had to be late at night...or maybe early in the morning. All she knew for certain was that it was still very dark outside. The only light that shone through the very large windows was coming from the different buildings spread across Zootopia's vast and magnificent Savannah district. But with the sickening white and artificial lighting, it created a barrier that kept the city lights from breaking into the building.

She walked up to the exhausted doctor shyly, standing only close enough for him to notice her. When he looked up, she saw how alert and attentive his eyes were, making the rest of his face double in age.

"Can I help you, Ms. Hopps?" Doctor Sheldon asked politely.

Judy gave him that sweet smile she always gave when she was nervous, "I was wondering if I could ask you some things."

"Well out with it, then."

"About your friend, I assume he's a therapist?"

" _She_ is, yes."

"Well, Nick doesn't really want to talk to a therapist. He may not even go to any appointments with her. He's not very open about his problems, you see. I can barely get him to talk to me."

"Where are you going with this, Ms. Hopps?"

"Please, call me Judy," she said. Everybody knew her name in Zootopia. She was the police officer who cracked the Night Howler case, except she felt guilty about that. While Nick didn't let her, Judy really wanted him to share the spotlight with her. She was still getting free cupcakes at a nearby sweet shop around the corner from her apartment, even though she had repeatedly insisted that she didn't need them. "I was wondering if, instead of sending Nick to a therapist, he could instead just talk to me?"

Doctor Sheldon looked at her with an emotionless face, "I cannot allow that, Ms.—I mean, Judy. Dr. Mona is a professional, and she knows all of the ways to make Nick feel comfortable. She's had hundreds of patients that previously refused to talk about problems."

"Not like Nick, doctor. He's been holding this stuff in his entire life. I've managed to get him to tell me a few things. And besides, he says that all of the things that gave him anxiety in the first place are in the past, and that not talking about them makes him feel better. He likes making jokes, and being annoyingly lovable, and clever. He loves his job and the mammals who work with him. But I've seen him when he remembers his traumatic experiences, Doctor Sheldon. He changes into a completely different fox. He just wants to be the Nick Wilde that he always is, not the one he used to be." Judy was breathing hard after this, having not given herself the time to take a breath during that whole thing. Doctor Sheldon looked at the bunny with a bit of sympathy.

"Ms. Hopps, you were originally talking to me because you wanted to be Nick's therapist, and now you're telling me that he doesn't need to talk about his problems. Which one is it?"

"Look, if Nick absolutely has to talk to a therapist, then let him do it indirectly. I can record him telling me what is bothering him, and give it to Doctor Mona." Doctor Sheldon glanced at the receptionist, who avoided his gaze, not wanting any part of this conversation.

"Ms. Hopps, I understand and respect that you are trying to help your friend, but he really must go to a therapist. If it will help, I'm sure Doctor Mona will be fine with you being in the room with him as he talks to her. That is the most I can do for you." He looked at his clipboard one more time. "I need to go check on another patient. Excuse me." The tired armadillo walked off, adjusting the glasses resting on his nose. "By the way, Mr. Wilde is to stay overnight. Well, as much night that's left, at least. He needs his rest." Judy groaned, stamping her foot on the ground. When Nick had told her how uncomfortable talking about his problems really made him, she finally understood. How could she make anyone else understand the way she did? How could she get anyone to see the sincerity in his eyes as he revealed such things to her?

But, on the other hand, Nick was very convincing. He could have just told her that to get her off his back. Maybe a professional _could_ make Nick feel better about opening up. Maybe he would be freed from his troubles. Still, as she turned around to go back to his room, she felt a severe dread put weight in her step. She had to tell him what she asked the doctor. She had to show him that she supported the therapy sessions. The only thing she hoped was that he would trust her enough to at least try it out.

She walked back to Nick's room, her head slightly down, not ready to ruin the good mood she had put him in with their banter. But as she peeked her head around the blandly painted wall of the room, she saw Nick asleep in his bed, remote in hand, and the T.V playing some random channel that Judy wasn't familiar with. The bunny softened at the sight, and went back to her spot in the chair next to his bed, taking the remote from his hand, and turning the T.V off. Still keeping her eyes on her friend, she leaned forward, using the bed as her pillow. But as soon as her head hit the mattress, Nick jerked awake, his eyelids droopy.

"Carrots?" he murmured, half-asleep. "Is that you?"

"Do you know any other bunnies patient enough to stay with you?" she asked with a laugh, realizing that she had really been spending too much time with this fox. She was starting to makes jokes like him now. His eyes opened a bit more, looking her up and down, staying unnervingly silent.

"It can't be very comfortable in that chair." He looked her in the eyes now. "You can...you can sleep in the bed with me if you want." They both were very silent for a long while, staring each other in the eyes. Judy had to admit, the chair really was very uncomfortable. Why did this feel so awkward? He was just making sure that she wouldn't completely ruin her spine by sleeping in that hunched over position in the chair. Nick was just doing what any friend would do.

Judy swallowed hard, standing from the chair, and climbing into the bed with Nick, grabbing some of the covers to wrap herself in. They were both laying on their backs, as still and stiff as possible, but neither knew why. Judy wasn't sure how long either of them were like that. All she knew was that she could hear Nick's breathing get slower and slower until she looked over to see that he had fallen asleep again. There it was, that same peaceful look on his face. Never would she ever be able to explain why, but Judy's hand was compelled to move towards his muzzle.

His soft red fur brushed against her paw, and she felt like her face looked just like Nick's in that moment. Peaceful, relaxed, protected. This fox loved to poke fun at her, but he refused to leave her. Even in the Night Howler case, he remained at her side even when she told him to leave...even when she betrayed him.

Retracting her paw from his muzzle, she turned on her side, letting her own breathing get softer, and falling into the land of dreams.

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 **Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Updates will be a bit slower, but I won't forget about you guys. If you have any suggestions, you can review or PM me!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey, guys, I'm back again. Sorry that it took so long for me to update. It's been a really busy school year, so chapters will be farther apart. Still, I will make sure you guys don't go too long without reading about Nick's emotional problems. :)**

 **IN RESPONSE TO: Mrfishy. I am so glad that you listened to Transmissions. I have a pretty good guess at which 4 songs you're stuck on. Whenever I finish this story, I will reveal what song it is. Well, there are technically two songs that describe Nick, so it may end up being two. Don't hesitate to comment when you decide which two, and I hope you guess correctly. I also hope you enjoyed transmissions. Happy guessing!**

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Nick was back in one of the exhibits of the Zootopia museum, watching a certain innocent looking sheep circle them like a vulture waiting for the right moment to dive. She looked at the two with a devious glee, satisfied at her accomplishment in thwarting their escape. Nick heard her start to explain her plan to turn all prey against predators, but her voice was muffled, distorted. All Nick could hear was the sound of his own heart pounding in his chest. Why was he so nervous? He switched the nighthowler serum with blueberries, there was nothing to worry about.

"What are you going to do?" asked Judy. "Kill me?" Her voice was amplified, as if she were using a megaphone to speak to the bespeckled sheep.

Bellwether made a noise that resembled a laugh, "No. He is." In an instant, she aimed the sleek black weapon at Nick and fired. The impact of the blue orb on his neck sent him backwards, and he began pretending to struggle against the "serum". But as Judy tried to say something else, her voice also became muddled. In fact, everything became muddled. Nick's thoughts, his hearing, his sight all washed away. The fox looked at his friend with constricted pupils, his muzzle crinkled back, showing off his sharp white fangs. Judy stepped back from him, going along with the impromptu plan they had made.

Nick let out a snarl at the bunny, unable to control himself. There was still a small piece of control over his thoughts, and he tried with all his might not to attack, but he couldn't resist. His instincts had completely taken over, rendering his mind and will useless. Judy ran from him, moving surprisingly fast considering her hurt leg, and tossed a fake stuffed gazelle at Nick as he pounced at her. The object hit him pretty hard, and he let out a small whine. Judy was now backed up as far as she could, watching Nick tear the large doll to shreds, still not realizing what had happened to her friend. He tried to fight it, but with each tear of the gazelle under his fangs, it became harder and harder to gain control of himself.

To Nick's horror, as he looked back up at Judy with another snarl, a piece of cotton hanging from his mouth, his thoughts became even more foggy. He could do nothing but watch through his focused and deadly eyes as he closed in on his friend. She was backing up as far as she could against the wall as Nick's head appeared through the tall grass. Only feet apart from each other now, Bellwether smiling at the sight, Judy thinking she knew what was happening, and Nick with his uncontrollable urge, he finally lunged for the last time at her, his teeth closing around her neck. She released a blood-curdling scream of terror, trying to really sell it to Bellwether, but Nick's grip got tighter and tighter, making Judy choke and call his name in an incredulous manner.

But as Nick tightened his grip for the last time, completing his mission as a predator, his surroundings went black. Judy, Bellwether, and even Nick's killing urge disappeared. It took a long time for him to realize that the darkness was actually the lack of lighting in his hospital room. He didn't move a muscle, as if afraid that there was something lurking in the darkness, waiting to strike at any moment. Covered in sweat, his heart beating uncontrollably, and his head spinning with fear, Nick let the reality sink in of what he had done in his dream. He had lost control, he had gone savage and…

Nick slowly turned his head to look at the bunny sleeping peacefully next to him, and an overwhelming guilt went through him. Dream or no dream, the fact that he had done something so horrible to his friend was unforgivable. His eyes suddenly became very moist, and before he knew it, he was crying. The fox shut his eyes tightly, letting the tears stream out like miniature rivers, but refusing to shake or sob, knowing that it would wake Judy. There was no way he could ever afford to tell her, nor could let her see him in such a vulnerable state.

But another reality set in on the fox as he let his emotions get the best of him...the doctor was right. Judy was right. Maybe a therapist wasn't the worst idea in the world. But after years of hiding his weaknesses, how would Nick be able to open up to this therapist? That was a question that he really didn't feel like asking himself, not now. He took another look at his partner, grateful for how supportive she had been to him through everything. No one had done that for him. Then again, that was because no one ever knew as much about him as she did. But one thing was for sure. She definitely wasn't the dumb bunny he had labeled her as the first day they met.

But while he was grateful, Nick also had to question why she was doing such things for him anyway. Yes, she was a loyal friend, but why would she stay with him through his emotional problems? Why did she not just give up when Nick chose not to talk about something? He was starting to get a headache, either from the crying or all of the questions he was asking himself. Judy was sleeping with her back facing him, one arm being used as a pillow, and the other dangling from the side of the bed.

Finally, Nick managed to stop the stream of tears, wiping them from his eyes, and rolled over on his side to try and get back to sleep, blocking the memory of the traumatic nightmare out of his head. Whatever was going to happen, he knew that she would at least be there with him the whole way, and he fell asleep with that in mind.

* * *

Judy opened her crusty eyes, feeling refreshed after getting to sleep in a bed instead of an uncomfortable hospital chair. She heard a strange noise in her semi-awake state, not realizing until a few seconds later that it was running water.

'Nick must be getting a shower,' she thought with a laugh. She wouldn't mind a shower of her own. The last shower she could remembered taking was that night that her and Nick were going to watch a movie. That was also the night they had been kidnapped by the polar bears. That got Judy thinking about the case again. If the polar bears had forced Rick to do what they wanted, did that mean they were doing the same thing to Mr. Big? Was that why they had kidnapped him? It didn't make much sense to Judy, as anyone would know that Mr. Big was not the guy that anyone could force to do something. It was all so confusing. She and Nick were not only having to juggle the case, but his anxiety as well.

But it wasn't like she was complaining. She loved big cases. It made her feel like she was in a movie. Of course, she knew that it wasn't a game, but it felt good during the nighthowler case when her or Nick managed to piece together enough evidence to give them a proper lead. Nick's anxiety was less fun to deal with, but Judy was just glad that the fox was finally being more open with her. She shook her head, ridding her mind of those thoughts for now. She would just have to find Weaselton first, then she could go from there. Judy let out a yawn and a stretch before getting out of the bed to set out some clothes for Nick. She walked over to the table embedded into the wall next to the door and opened the suitcase that was inside. Digging through the suitcase, Judy found a black button-up shirt, black sweatpants, and his lucky tie that was sitting next to the case.

She smiled as she set the tie down with the other clothes, wondering what the significance of the article of clothing was. As she let her hand rest on the soft fabric of it, she heard the water stop running and knew that it was her queue to leave the room so her friend could get dressed. As the door shut softly behind her, she leaned against the wall next to it, hoping that the doctor would let Nick out today. As if a flip had been switched, Judy's thoughts changed to their sleeping arrangements the previous night. She couldn't help but feel just a little awkward for sleeping in the same bed with him. Even thinking about it now made a bit of red show underneath her dark gray cheeks, and her ears halfway flattened in embarrassment. The fox didn't even make a joke about it. He was sincere, friendly. Judy wondered if he was just as uncomfortable about the situation, but he would probably make light of it anyway. Jokes and schemes always seemed to be Nick's way of dealing with things he didn't enjoy. A coping mechanism, one could say.

Was she just overthinking it? They were both good friends and Nick didn't want his friend to have to sleep in an uncomfortable hospital chair so, as a good friend would, he offered for her to sleep in a more comfortable bed with him. Besides, with all that Nick was going through, he could have also just wanted to be close to Judy for some comfort, but was too proud to admit it.

Judy could have thought about these things for at least an hour, but the door opened, derailing her train of thought and catching her attention. Her partner was standing there, wearing the button-up and sweatpants that she had laid out for him, the black color contrasting very nicely with the lucky tie he was currently tightening around his neck with a pensive smile. Once the tie was to Nick's satisfaction, he looked up at Judy with that sly smile.

"Thanks for setting my clothes out for me, mommy," Nick said, ruffling the fur on Judy's head like a father with his daughter. After that, there was a strange silence between the two, mostly because of Judy. She could tell that even though he was awake enough to make jokes, there was still a sleepy haze in his mind, focused more on finding coffee than making fun of her. She just didn't know what to say. But thankfully, Doctor Sheldon walked up to the awkwardly silent pair, no clipboard in his hand this time, but a tired smile on his face. Judy was tempted to follow in Nick's footsteps and get a shower herself, but she wanted to stay with the fox for moral support. That was her priority right now.

"Good morning, Mr. Wilde. I hope you slept well," said the doctor, not noticing Judy's cheeks getting redder. "I have excellent news. You have an appointment with Dr. Mona tomorrow at three o'clock. She's very excited to meet you." Nick was a bit perturbed by the fact that this therapist was so available, but chose not to question it and nodded at the doctor in acknowledgement with an uncaring smile. "Also, I'm very happy to say that your wolf friend is awake, and I managed to pull a few strings so you could have a few minutes to talk to him." Not bothering to stay for a reaction, the doctor walked away to tend to other business, leaving the fox and the rabbit to look at each other in minor surprise.

After their brief eye contact, Nick looked straight forward at nothing in particular, almost as if he weren't there anymore, making Judy a bit nervous. She didn't want to lose him again, not like she did at the precinct, so she took a risk and slowly slid her hand in his, hoping that it would give him some comfort. He didn't struggle against the attempt at comfort, but instead tightened his grip slightly, letting her know that he was thankful for it. Verbally, Nick would probably never be able to voice his concerns and cries for help properly, but he managed it through body language and subtle communication.

Judy found herself staring at his paw, now wrapped around hers. She had always known that the fur on his paws was much darker that the rest of him. The paws that he held his ill-gotten money in, the paws that he held those pawpsicles in...the paws that formed threatening claws when Judy had betrayed him at that press conference all those months ago. Why was she so obsessed with that? He had already forgiven her for it, but whenever she thought about their friendship, Judy always went back to that one press conference. It happened, it was over, and it would never happen again, that was all that mattered. So why couldn't she just let it go, already?

Nick's paw squeezed slightly again, once again bringing her back to reality. That was their friendship, their partnership. Judy had taken his hand to bring him back to reality, so he had done the same for her in return. Judy had never had a friend like Nick, who tortured her on a daily basis, but comforted her and made her feel like everything would be okay. One more squeeze from the both of them, and Nick gave her a confident smile, grateful that his wolf friend was okay, but completely unaware of what would happen when they walked in.

Truthfully, Nick was irrationally afraid that Rick would nearly die on him again if he walked into that room to talk to him. It happened last time for no reason, so what was stopping it from happening again? But there was no way Nick could just leave the hospital without seeing his friend to make sure the wolf was okay. So, releasing their grips on each other's hands, the pair walked to Rick's room, looking into the window to make sure he was still awake. There he was, the one-eyed wolf, rubbing his face in a sleepy manner. Judy watched Nick's sly smile turn into more of a relieved one, and the two walked in the room, anxiously awaiting what Rick would have to say to them.

When the two were far enough in the room for Rick to see them, Nick cleared his throat, swallowing the joke that he wanted to make. Greeting Rick with a joke would either end very well, or very horribly, and for once, Nick was not going to take that chance. As soon as the wolf spotted the pair, his eyes widened, not in fear or dismay, but happiness.

"Nick, how ya doing, man?" Rick asked with a bright smile at the fox. Nick knew that Rick was a loyal friend, and tried not to laugh at the wolf's excitement to see him despite everything that happened.

"I could ask you the same thing," Nick responded, leaning against the bland looking wall, crossing his arms. Rick stared at his friend for a bit before raising his arms in defeat, bringing them down on his legs with a slap.

"Man, I don't know how, but the doctor says I was poisoned. I tried to ask him what it was, but he didn't know. He said he'd never seen a poisonous substance of that sort before, not that he's really seen many. He said he would get back to me eventually." As soon as Rick finished what he was saying, Nick remembered something that made him want to slap himself. The doctor had promised to tell him was had happened to Rick last night, but never did.

'Out-foxed by an armadillo,' Nick thought with a proud puff of his breath. 'Doesn't count. I was tired and worried about Rick.' While Nick was fuming about the slick or forgetful armadillo, Judy was trying to not express her disbelief of Rick's story. Whether or not she was just in denial, Judy didn't know if she could believe that the wolf was poisoned so easily in the middle of the ZPD precinct, where he had an officer and the chief watching him the whole time. But she did see a collapsed Rick on the floor when she ran in for Nick.

The white wolf sitting on the bed in front of her had his head down in thought. Judy wondered if he was thinking the same thing she was. Nick even seemed to be thinking about it, all of them in a strange state of thought, none of them quite sure how Rick was poisoned, but painfully aware of that confusion of the predicament with each passing second.

"Look, Nick, I don't got the faintest idea as to how I was poisoned, but I think we can all agree that it was the same guy that sent those polar bears to my place. I miss when this kind of stuff was simpler."

"So do I, buddy. Don't worry about it, we'll find this mystery man and bring him in. I'll even save a few punches for you," said Nick, his smile strong and reassuring to the white wolf. The mammal with the eye patch could almost feel his fist against the villain's face already. Sweet revenge would be his, and it was all thanks to his friend, Nick Wilde. Rick could actually say that, for once, he actually trusted a cop, regardless of said cop being his best friend. And even though he didn't know her that well, if Nick trusted the bunny next to him, so could he.

With that in mind, Rick smiled at the both of them gratefully, thanking Nick for what he said. Nick had to admit to himself that it felt weird to be so nice. He was always nice enough to those he considered friends, but never as supportive as he had been in that moment with Rick. Judy would definitely say something about it. She always noticed it when he wasn't acting like his usual sly self. It would be even worse, he realized, now that he was going to have to go to a therapy session the next day. She would worry about him more and more, and no amount of snarky comments would stop that.

The duo said their goodbyes to Rick and walked out of his room to leave the poor wolf to his much deserved rest. But right before he walked out, Nick stuck his head back around the corner, telling the wolf to call him if he had any other information, and then he offered the wolf to coffee soon.

"It'd be nice to get together under better circumstances," said Nick, disappearing behind the wall, leaving the wolf to his thoughts in complete silence, except for the small click of the gently closed door, signaling that Nick had actually left that time. Rick looked in the direction they came from, not caring what either of them said. Whether they knew it or not, Rick was more than certain that they would end up a couple, if they weren't already, that was.

After leaving the room, Nick grabbed his bags from his room and he and Judy made their way down to the main lobby of the hospital. Judy watched with empathy as they passed a child crying silently into his mother's arms. She could only guess what was wrong with him, but it was still such a sad sight to see. She looked up to share a sad look with Nick, but instead saw the slick fox signing something at the desk. Judy wasn't surprised that he either hadn't noticed or hadn't cared about the crying child. Maybe it was a bit ridiculous to think, but Judy felt it a bit selfish of Nick to ignore such a thing, unless he was earnestly distracted.

The crying sound of the child was drowned out by the sound of Judy's own head and thoughts. All of the other patients around her awaiting to see a doctor faded away into shadows in the back of her mind. It was like being in a playground filled with the many thoughts of one who was trying to live in their own head. Judy knew that Nick had basically lived on the streets, but for how long exactly? What had Nick told her about his past so far? That he had been beaten by those kids, that he had anxiety, even today.

To Nick, a crying child may be a good thing compared to what he had seen before. She couldn't continue her contemplation because she felt a light tap on her shoulders. As if she had been struck by lightning, a jolt went through her, shaking her out of her unexpected meditation session. Nick was standing in front of her, arms crossed, eyes narrowed in that uncaring way, one eyebrow raised, looking at her with amusement.

Judy, now more aware of her surroundings and trying not to beat herself up for not staying alert as a police officer should, looked around to make sure no one was staring at her like Nick was. They were all too invested in whatever had brought them to the hospital in the first place to focus on Judy's recently acquired talent of losing herself in thought. She tried not to look her vulpine friend in the eyes, knowing that he would take the opportunity to make some sort of sick joke.

"Pondering something?" asked Nick, his smile not faltering in the slightest. "Is it about what Rick said?" Judy wasn't sure why he was still smiling. He was asking her an honest question, yet that mischievous smile remained.

"It's just weird how he got poisoned in the precinct, you know? I just can't fathom how that managed to happen with you _and_ Bogo watching him. It's just a little weird, that's all."

"Are you saying that Rick poisoned himself?" Nick asked, no offense evident on his face, but his smile finally disappearing. Judy didn't believe for a second that Nick hadn't thought about it before, but instead that he didn't _want_ to think about it, didn't _want_ to believe it. And she didn't blame him.

"No," Judy said, trying her hardest to choose her next words carefully. "I'm just trying to think of all the options. I doubt that Rick poisoned himself, I just can't think of any other way it could have happened right now." Nick relaxed, changing back into his lazy state, hands in his pockets as if nothing had happened. Judy awkwardly slid one foot in a circular motion around the other, like a small child that had been caught breaking the rules.

"So...Weaselton then?" Nick asked, breaking the silence, taking his hands out of his pockets and placing them neatly behind his back.

"Yeah, but we need to go back to the precinct first." Judy could have sworn that she saw Nick roll his eyes.

* * *

The moment that Judy and Nick walked into the ZPD, Clawhauser noticed and, squealing with excitement, almost tackled Nick to the ground in his excitement that the fox was okay. But he almost wished that he had been crushed by Clawhauser after all, because the rest of the officers of the ZPD noticed the scene, and therefore noticed Nick.

Fangmeyer welcomed the fox back, patting him enthusiastically on the back with a smile. Wolfson, much to Nick's surprise, gave him a small hug, saying how glad he was that Nick was all right. The remaining officers asked how Nick was feeling, greeted him warmly, and other things in a blur of blue from their uniforms. He felt embarrassed and touched at the same time, not exactly enjoying the attention, as he preferred to stick to the sidelines, but grateful that his fellow officers actually cared about him all the same.

It was quite strange, Nick thought as they all continued about their business, that after only a few days at the ZPD, everyone was already treating him like he was family, like he was part of a pact, as he had always dreamed. Judy was talking to Clawhauser, who was walking back to his desk, with a smile on her face. She hadn't been expecting such a thing to happen either. In that moment, Nick realized that he really wasn't as alone as he had always been. He had a family, a family dressed in blue, a family that would always have his back in the worst of times.

He still kept a sly smile on his face, but on the inside his chest was swelling with pride and happiness, not unlike the day he was given his badge. Judy had finished whatever conversation with Clawhauser she had been having and returned to Nick's side, glowing with happiness for her friend.

"Well, it looks like someone is pretty popular around here," said Judy, her ears as perked up as ever.

"What can I say?" Nick asked rhetorically. "I'm a really charming guy." Behind that cocky exterior, Judy knew what Nick was thinking, and she was ecstatic that the fox finally felt welcome and accepted.

The two stared at each other warmly until a shadow covered the both of them, and Chief Bogo was standing in front of the duo, his face stern, but his eyes softer. Ever since the events of yesterday, he couldn't swallow the guilt that wriggled around in his chest like a parasite trying to find a way out.

"Wilde," Bogo acknowledged, winning a slick smile from the fox, "It's...good that you're well...and the wolf?"

"He's fine, chief," Nick said, "but I gotta say, I'm kinda disappointed in you. I was expecting a banner, maybe some presents. You could have even jumped out of a cake. You should really think about that whenever one of us has a birthday."

Bogo didn't bother scorning Nick for his joke, not this time. But he still let his eyes harden long enough to let him know that he didn't find the cake remark funny. Thankfully, before Nick could make another joke, Judy stepped in front of him.

"Chief Bogo, we want to go after Weaselton, he's our only lead right now, and-"

"No, Hopps. I refuse to let you and Wilde continue this investigation any longer. You two have gotten yourselves in too much danger too many times. I thought I could just ignore it, but after what happened to Wilde, here, I can't be sure that it won't happen again."

Nick raised his finger in objection, signaling for Bogo not to continue, "Do you even know what happened to me in that interrogation room, Chief? It was shock, the doctor said, from seeing my friend in that state. I'm not very easy to catch off guard, Buffalo Sauce, but to be fair I wasn't expecting anything to happen to Rick here in the precinct. And besides, being a cop is dangerous. We're going to get in danger, Chief, it's part of the job. So, whether or not you like it, me and Ms. Hopps here are going to follow the lead we have." Bogo watched Nick start to walk away in surprise. He'd done it again, the annoying fox, just like that night that Judy had lead him to see a savage Mr. Manchas, only to find the black jaguar gone.

"Fine," Bogo said, realizing that there was no point in arguing with this fox, "but how are you planning on finding him?" Judy, who had been watching the whole thing unfold, gaped disbelievingly at Nick, who turned back around and joined her side.

"Glad you changed your mind," Nick said. "Knowing Weaselton, he's probably somewhere selling illegal products, so our first move would be to take the cruiser and look for him on the street corners." Bogo sighed and tiredly agreed to let them go, shuffling back upstairs to head to his office.

Judy noticed Bogo's sluggish behavior with a bit of concern. The chief had mornings where he would yawn during the assignments of the day, or sometimes he would even rest his head on his desk when it was quiet, but Judy had never seen him this tired. She knew that things were stressful in Zootopia lately, but for it to affect the chief so severely was certainly worrying. Nick was also watching the chief leave, a satisfied smile on his face, either not noticing his exhaustion or not caring, just like the crying child at the hospital.

"Well, I'll go bring the car around so we can search for Weaselton, and you go get your uniform on," said Judy, turning to walk to the door, just a little disappointed in Nick's disregard for their chief's health.

"What about yours?" Nick asked.

"It's at my apartment. We'll swing by there." Judy walked out of the precinct to go get the car, leaving Nick alone to let his smile fall. As it turned out, he did notice the chief's change in demeanor. The buffalo had barely even argued with Nick, he thought as he walked to the locker room where he had last left his uniform.

Minutes later, Nick had his uniform on, his badge neatly pinned to his chest. He looked down at the black tie that came with his uniform, glancing back into his locker with guilt, almost wishing that he had kept his lucky tie on, the comforting accessory laying there for the sole purpose of being forgotten like everything else the fox put in there. For a moment, he lifted his hand, so close to switching ties. No one would care if he had a different tie on with his uniform, and the current black one had no sentimental value whatsoever. So why was it so hard to just switch them?

His hand lingered in the air for a few seconds longer, as if he were trying to make the tie come to him by some supernatural means, before letting it fall to his side, and slamming the locker door with a sudden anger at himself. Thankfully nobody was around to see or hear him have this small mental battle. That familiar feeling in his chest became more and more prominent. His eyes shut as tightly as they could. Nick's breathing became very heavy, and he leaned against his locker, trying to will it to go away.

He eventually managed to get better control of his breathing, and his heartbeat slowed a bit, but that familiar sensation in his chest was still present. So, taking a look around the locker room, making sure that nobody had seen his episode, he opened his locker, grabbed his lucky tie, and shoved it into his back pocket as he walked out, planting a bored look on his face. As he walked across the main lobby of the precinct, trying not to look at Clawhauser devouring a bag of chips, Nick noticed the car at the front of the precinct. By the time he had made it to the car, thanks to the feeling of his lucky tie in his back pocket, his chest felt much better, and the smile he shot at Judy was less fake than usual.

* * *

Hours of searching later, Nick and Judy were still driving around the city of Zootopia for any sign of Weaselton. They had already stopped by Judy's apartment so that she could change into her uniform. The form fitting outfit made the bunny feel much more protected and authoritative. She stopped at a red light, taking a glance to her right at her partner, asleep in his seat. She thought about stopping very abruptly several times to wake him up, but every time she was close to doing it, she would look at his sleeping face and just couldn't bring herself to commit to the act. How was it that she couldn't even force herself to torture him the same way he did to her. She had outwitted him, but she just couldn't do anything to disturb his sleep today. Was it pity for his anxiety? Was it fear that he would find a much worse way to get back at her? Or was it last night when she had slept next to him?

Whether or not she let herself admit it, last night had affected her in some way. A small part of her mind that kept unwanted thoughts out peeked open to reveal the idea that she could somehow have feelings for Nick, feelings that were stronger than the 'just friends' stage. But that was ridiculous, Judy thought, shoving those thoughts back down. There was no way in the world that she could have feelings for Nick. It wasn't that the fox wasn't desirable. He had a charming personality, he wasn't bad looking, and on top of it all, he had that cheeky way of getting under people's skin that just made them love him, save for a few who didn't like his sense of humor so much.

But being attracted to him? Impossible. Judy could not picture them as being together in any scenario. But still, as the light turned green, and she drove slowly forward, she couldn't resist the urge to sneak another look at his peaceful sleeping face. Maybe the bunny just had it all wrong. Maybe the feelings for Nick were really just her pity for him, only made stronger by his sleeping state. It was the only time she could see the vulnerability on his face, the vulnerability that he hid so well.

She glanced at the time that the dashboard of the police car showed: _5:00_. The bunny groaned. They had been searching for Weaselton for at least five hours. It almost seemed unreal to Judy that they had been looking for one rat for that long. As she continued on her way, she spotted a small coffee shop. Looking at the clock again, realizing that they would have to continue their search until at least nightfall, Judy slowed the car down to a stop right next to the brewery and killed the engine. She took a few seconds longer to admire Nick's face before shaking the fox awake, much to his disappointment.

"Aw, come on, Carrots. Do you really have to-" he stopped himself when he saw where they were. "Oh, coffee sounds nice." Judy rolled her eyes and got out of the car, Nick following sleepily behind her. The two entered the coffee shop, making the small bell above the door ring, signaling more customers. They both ordered their coffees and took a seat at a nearby booth. Nick took his phone out to see the time. "How long was I out?" he asked.

"About an hour," Judy responded. Nick looked at his phone for a bit longer, as if trying to decipher how he had fallen asleep, before returning it to his pocket and staring out the window, watching the cars and mammals of all varieties pass by. With his peripheral vision, he could see Judy staring at him. He resisted shaking his head, knowing that she was probably going to ask him how he was feeling or something of that sort. Of course, he would just redirect it as always. His hand was in his back pocket without his knowledge, feeling the material of his tie as it gave him comfort. He hated when the bunny tried to have heart-to-hearts with him.

Yet, she still managed to do it. He had cracked and revealed a few key things to her, but nothing as serious as the things that still were buried in the deepest and darkest parts of his soul. He knew that Judy could see through him sometimes, but if she were able to look passed the emerald in his eyes, she would see the truth of his life. The truth of his past, a dark past that was to never be shown to anyone. He didn't care what the therapist asked him, he would not let her know anything that Judy didn't, because there was also no way he would be in that room without Judy to give him some kind of support.

At the thought of Judy's support, his thumb stopped caressing the tie. He wished that he could just rely on the bunny as much as he did an object, regardless of how emotionally attached to it he was.

"We've been searching for hours, Nick, and we still haven't found Weaselton," said Judy. "Are you sure that he wouldn't lay low after all of this?"

"He's not that careful. Besides, he knew he was protected by that encrypted footage."

"But what if the guy in charge of all of this told Weaselton that we were after him...or what if he poisoned him too?" Nick tensed, but played it off with a shrug.

"I doubt it. Weaselton's more of a contract at the moment kind of guy. He does one job for you and you never hear from him again." At the look Judy was giving him, he continued. "He's never done any jobs for me, Carrots, I'd never be _that_ desperate, but I do know the guy. He's the rat you hire when you want dirty work done for a cheap price...and he doesn't give off any info about his clients, which you and I fixed thanks to Mr. Big…" Nick was very silent after that, a realization hitting him like a sledgehammer to the gut.

"Maybe that's why Mr. Big is gone," Judy said, reading Nick's reaction like a storybook. "This guy must have known that Mr. Big was one of the few who could get Weaselton to talk, so he made him disappear. But there are still so many unanswered questions here, Nick. How did he get most of Mr. Big's men to rebel against him so easily? And why did he want to rob all of those jewelry stores? There had to be some money involved to hire all of these guys, so he's just wasting his earnings."

"Maybe that's why he got Weaselton to work for him, because he needed to save money, but I see what you mean. He doesn't seem to be too interested in the money based on his actions."

Judy had never felt like they were getting somewhere and nowhere at the same time before, but they were at least doing something besides searching around the entirety of Savannah central for a rat that may not even be in Zootopia anymore. In that moment, Judy heard the bell ring, and Nick grew a sly, confident smile on his face.

"I don't believe in coincidences, Carrots, but sometimes it's hard to doubt that they don't exist," said Nick, nodding his head in the direction of the door. Judy turned her head slowly to see Weaselton himself walking in the shop, chewing on a toothpick as always. "I told you, Carrots," Nick continued, getting her attention, "he's not careful."

* * *

 **Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Constructive criticism and the like are accepted, so please do not hesitate.**


	9. Chapter 9

**IN RESPONSE TO JBLD2: Haha, thanks for pointing that out. Believe me, you are not being a jerk. Lol. I encourage any kind of criticism or suggestions from anyone. And I already resolved the issue so it won't bother you anymore. :)**

 **Enjoy the story, everyone!**

* * *

The afternoon sun sinking into the horizon after fulfilling its hard day of work in warming the inhabitants of Zootopia, as well as providing them light, reflected off of the many buildings that were high enough to touch the sky, covering the entirety of the highly populated Savannah District in a darkened shade of orange.

One of the buildings that the sun's rays managed to leak through was the humble little coffee shop where two of Zootopia's finest sat in their booth, both staring at a lanky rat who was chewing on a toothpick, looking up at the menu that contained the many variety of caffeinated drinks. Judy Hopps looked to her partner with one of the most satisfied grins on her face, further accentuating the bags under her eyes from exhaustion.

The fox smiled back with an equal satisfaction, glancing at Duke Weaselton, who had yet to notice them, and said, "You want to let him get his coffee first?" Without answering, Judy stood from her booth, silently, subtly, not letting the rat notice them just yet, while Nick did the same. A few other mammals in their own booths seemed to notice the sudden tension that flooded the room, much like the light from the steadily setting sun. One child looked at the two officers with wide, innocent eyes, only for Judy to quietly put a finger to her mouth, praying the child wouldn't be foolish enough to give them away. Somehow, Weaselton didn't seem to notice said tension, instead keeping his focus on the lady at the front who did not dare even glance at the two officers getting into their positions. Nick walked over to the door, leaning against the cool, smudge-free glass, his arms crossed patiently.

Judy, meanwhile, finally discarded her secrecy as she jumped up to tap Weaselton on the shoulder firmly enough to make him to squeak a bit in the unexpected pain. The moment he spotted the adorable little bunny, looking at him with a smug grin, the toothpick dropped from his mouth. But not in fear. No, in fact, he didn't seem worried at all to see someone who had nearly gotten him _iced_ the last time they had met. He just looked bothered, annoyed that the presence of a ZPD officer—especially this one—had interrupted his activities. The rat tried his hardest not to let his face show any sign that he currently had a baton hidden up his shirt that would have been used specifically for the coffee girl to give him all of the money.

"Hello, Weaselton," Judy said, replacing her smile with an authoritative and intimidating frown. "You're under arrest." The Duke was nervously toeing his chewed up toothpick, suddenly very interested in anything that wasn't the officer in front of him.

"I don't really know what you're talking about," said the rat, smiling crookedly at the bunny.

"Oh, really?" Judy said, risking a glance at Nick. "Because we happ–" In that moment Judy had her head turned, she saw a bright flash, then darkness, then she felt cold on the right side of her face. Slowly, shakily, her vision returned to her, spotted with stars. The cold on her face was from the floor of the brewery, and her head hurt so severely that she could have sworn that just thinking exacerbated the intensity of it. Everyone who had been watching this all unravel remained in their seats, now watching the struggle between Nick and Weaselton. The fox had been expecting the rat to just try and run, leaving him open for Nick to stick his foot out and trip him.

But seeing his partner, seeing Judy get hit like that. Watching helplessly as she fell to the dirty floor. In his panic, all Nick could do was try and grab the baton from Weaselton as he ran by. Nick himself almost ended up like Judy, but somehow managed to wriggle the baton free from Weaselton's grasp. Adrenaline and anger pumped through Nick's veins, clouding his thoughts as he swung wildly at the fleeing rat, who managed to dodge the blow. Nick instead hit the door, the glass shattering at the force. Thanks to that, Weaselton slinked his way through the shards and ran, Nick following closely behind, cutting himself on the glass as he went.

Something was wrong, Nick thought as he chased after Weaselton with less speed than he wanted. He had never felt such anger before, never really _fought_ before, not properly. Sure, there was the training at the academy, and then there was the occasional mammal who tried to start fights when he had been on the streets with Finnick. But the fennec fox had either taken care of it for Nick, or the sly fox had found a way to talk out of it. The actual fights Nick had been in consisted of him dodging blows until the other person got tired and then calmly walking away while they tried to catch their breath.

But something about seeing his partner get hit so mercilessly. Something snapped in him. Something triggered the protective part of him that hated to see those he cared about get hurt. It wasn't unlike when Bogo had tried to strip Judy of her badge the night Mr. Manchas had chased them. But that was just verbal. This had been a physical attack. A blow that left a sickening popping noise that probably still echoed in the shop. He hadn't even gone to her to check if she was okay. He had just immediately gone after Weaselton. He was sure he would get an earful of that later. But right now, the last thing he needed was another friend in the hospital.

The image of Judy falling, of that smile disappearing as she dropped to the ground as if her small body had turned to cement, had him running faster and faster until he tackled Weaselton to the ground, snarling despite himself in the rat's face. Something made Nick almost get off of Duke. He had a terrified look on his face when he saw Nick's bared teeth, his wild eyes. A shiver through Nick's spine. The rat was already a coward, but his fear reminded him a bit too much of Judy's fear when he pretended to snarl at her at the conference. When, in his dream, he…

Nick shook off the anger, handcuffing and practically throwing the rat into the police car when they reached it. Weaselton didn't even try to fight that time. All Nick could think about was his partner. And once the door slammed behind Weaselton, after making extra sure the doors were locked, Nick threw himself through the door of the coffee shop to make sure his partner was okay. He still had some adrenaline in him, but seeing the broken glass reminded him that he had been cut in several places, as well as the cuts themselves. When he was back in the shop, he saw her. Judy was sitting in one of the booths, holding a hand to her head, a glass of water in her hand while the lady who had been at the counter was sitting beside the officer. Everyone else who had been in the coffee shop had run off while Nick was chasing Weaselton. The sound of the door opening got Judy's attention, and she turned around with a small smile to her friend.

Nick ignored the lady who had gotten up the moment she saw him to start sweeping up the broken glass off the floor, which Nick had luckily managed to avoid slicing his feet open with. He slid next to his partner in the booth, looking at her with worry she had never seen before that she could recall. "You okay?"

"Fussing over me, huh?" Judy joked, rubbing her head. "Other than my pride, and my really bad headache, I'm fine. Did you get Weaselton?" Nick nodded at her with relief in his eyes.

"He's in the car right now," he said, smiling at Judy sincerely. He didn't bother making a joke or remark, not with the pain in his cuts starting to get more and more noticeable. The feeling made his fur stand.

Nick helped Judy out of the booth, her head pounding the whole way, and escorted her to the passenger seat of the car. In a few moment's, they were already on the road back to the ZPD. Judy's head felt much better now that the sun was almost gone from view. The near-darkness gave her head some relief, and she looked at Nick to thank him, but even with the dimming light, she managed to notice the cuts littering the fox's arms.

She stared at him in disbelief, watching him resist wincing at the pain, "What did you do to yourself?"

Nick closed his eyes for as long the cruiser would allow before glancing at the marks on his arms from slipping out the door. In hindsight, he really could have just opened the door and ran after Weaselton, but he had been just a bit caught up in the moment.

"It's fine," he brushed off. "I'll get it bandaged up with the first aid at the precinct." And that was the end of it. Nick tried not to let himself think about how he had gotten so caught up in getting Weaselton that he'd lost his head, or the fact that the criminal, sitting silently in the back of the car, staring longingly out the window, had looked at him with fear. It made Nick fear for himself, for who he was. The years he had spent perfecting that unyielding personality, that unbreakable smile, the confident nature that could not falter. He was shattering into the old Nick Wilde, the vulnerable Nick Wilde crying against the staircase. _Weak._ That word hit Nick hard. Weakness was something the fox could not afford, not even if it was for someone as special to him as Judy.

She had already seen so much of his true self. He couldn't afford to slip anymore. He wouldn't, for Judy's sake, and his own.

* * *

Weaselton flinched as Chief Bogo slammed his fist into the cool metal table that separated them from each other. Nick and Judy stood in the other room, watching from the one way mirror. Judy had her arms crossed, watching every move Weaselton made, examining anything he did that might reveal any sort of clue. That was something she had been taught at the academy. Always be prepared. And after her mistake at the coffee shop, she couldn't allow herself to let her guard down again. Nick simply stood next to her, his face calmer than ever, hands in his pockets, and his arms covered in bandages from the cuts. Not only had he practically shredded his arms on the glass, but he had to remove pieces of glass from his arm as well.

Officer after officer offered to help the fox out, but he'd retorted with a different joke every single time, all the while removing the glass and wrapping the bandages himself. Judy had yet to try and confront him on what had happened when she had fallen, when he had chased down the rat. She hadn't been unaware of how quiet Weaselton had been on the way to the precinct. And as he proved to her, he wasn't the type to go quietly. Ever. Bogo was giving daggers at the rat as Weaselton tried to keep his face steady.

"Who hired you to rob that store?" Bogo asked, leaning over the table, clenching the side of it as if trying to remind himself that it was not in his best interests to attack the rat.

"I told you, cop, I never saw his face. All I know is that he was a dude, and his voice was weird. That's all I got for ya." Weaselton leaned back in his chair, nervously glancing at the window, as if scared that Nick would come into the room and snarl at him again. To be fair, it would probably make him talk more, but he wasn't very keen on the idea of anyone finding out that he had lost his temper. Bogo stopped leaning against the table, standing up way too straight, his arms crossed as he lost himself in thought. It was a good minute before the chief sighed and signaled for Fangmeyer and Delgato to take him to his cell. Once Weaselton was out of sight, Bogo walked into the room that Nick and Judy stood patiently in.

"Why is it that everyone says the same thing about this criminal? Strange voice, very smooth. Never seen the face. That's all we seem to be able to get from anyone. We're getting nowhere with this case, and if this smooth talking freak is able to convince Mr. Big's men to rebel against him, then we've really got a problem. I don't know how the media hasn't gotten a hold of all of this. If we don't catch this guy fast, then who knows who he'll take next. What he'll do." He didn't show it, and probably never would, but Bogo was a bit afraid. Afraid that his men would rebel against him? Hopefully not.

"We'll find him, Chief. I know we will," Judy said, that determined twitch in her nose. Bogo stared at her, and Nick smiled.

"I'm certain that you and Wilde will solve this case eventually, Hopps. I just hope you do it soon. I'm going to my office to see if I can gather up anything else. You two look tired, you should both get some rest. You're dismissed." And Bogo was out of the room just like that.

One of the things Judy had noticed about the chief was that he seemed a bit more rested than he had earlier. That was a comforting thought, comforting enough that her smile was genuine as she shot it to her partner.

"So, what now, Mr. Wilde?" asked Judy as she leaned against the wall, trying not to glance at the bandages on his arms.

"Well, Ms. Hopps. I would love to watch that movie that we were never able to meet up for."

Judy's smile grew, and she dipped her head in a light bit of laughter, "I would love that, Nick." Nick seemed satisfied with himself as he opened the door for her and walked with her to the exit of the precinct, one of his hands still in his pocket, thumbing his lucky tie that he had moved from his back pocket to his front one before Judy had tried to confront Weaselton. And after what had happened this evening, he was pretty certain that hand would be in his pocket the whole night, feeling the tie that kept him calm.

"To my apartment," said Nick as they both walked out of the precinct, letting the cool night air brush across their faces. The fox especially enjoyed it, as it managed to calm the sharp pains in his arms if only temporarily. They walked down street after street, their fur providing enough warmth for them to not be bothered by the temperature. But Nick almost wanted to get closer to Judy, just to get a little bit of extra warmth...and Judy wanted to do the same to him. But neither moved for their own reasons. Nick didn't want to seem dependent on the bunny, not after what he'd done to Weaselton for her. And Judy still felt uncomfortable about the thoughts that had entered her head when she had seen Nick comfortably sleeping in his seat in the cruiser. But it wasn't awkward as they made it to Nick's apartment door.

Judy, even though she knew it was just another apartment, was excited to see Nick's. She wondered if he kept it neat, or if it was a mess that she would have to clean up. Whatever was behind the smooth wooden door, she didn't know, but that was what was so exciting to her.

Nick seemed to notice this as he reached for his keys, smiling as he said, "Nervous, Carrots?"

"Me? Of course not," Judy blocked, but Nick still decided to drive her crazy by going noticeably slower in his task of finding his keys. But once he had decided that he'd had enough fun torturing his partner, Nick opened the door, revealing to Judy a quite nice apartment. Not only was it neat, as far as she could tell, it had some nice stuff in it. A flat-screen T.V that was hooked up to surround sound speakers was the first to greet her. Then the speaker Nick used for his music. Then the fox himself, walking towards his bedroom with Judy trailing behind him. But as Judy rounded the corner to Nick's room, her excitement fell, and that was when she saw the mess in the fox's room. Clothes everywhere, empty pizza boxes—and blueberry cartons, and coffee cups—littered the floor. But whatever it was Nick had gone into his room for, he had finished doing quite quickly, because as Judy was walking in, the fox was walking out, clapping his hands together in determination.

"Ready to watch a movie?" asked the fox as he opened a cabinet under his T.V, revealing the many movies he had lined up. Judy looked at each movie with care, curious about what her partner's taste in entertainment was. She realized in that moment that she was acting a bit obsessive over all of this, but the fox had just let her into his apartment. He had practically opened up everything about himself to her, and she wanted to learn. Judy managed to pick out a comedy movie Nick had, deciding that having a laugh in these times wasn't the worst of ideas. Nick didn't hesitate—or even look at what movie Judy had chosen—as he put the disk in the D.V.D player, and walked to his kitchen to make some popcorn, leaving Judy to just sit on the couch and wait, and be happy that she was finally able to do something with her partner that wasn't dangerous...for once.

* * *

The morning sun's attempt to shine through the curtained windows in Nick's kitchen carried over into the living room, giving the entire apartment a warm, homey glow. Nick blinked himself awake, rubbing some of the crust out of his emerald eyes, and looked over at Judy, sleeping peacefully on the couch with a blanket securely wrapped around her. The empty popcorn bowl lay in the middle of the coffee table that the fox had his feet propped up on, and the kernels and dropped pieces of popcorn—from Nick's hilarious attempt to throw them in the air and catch them with his mouth—scattered the floor beneath him. With a stretch, a yawn, and a pop of his back, the fox got up from his spot on the couch and took the bowl in his hand, throwing the scattered popcorn into it before setting it down in the sink to be cleaned up later.

As he made his way to his room to get some more comfortable sleep, he took his phone out of its place in his pocket and checked the time: _12:00._ He simply shrugged at what his phone screen told him, not surprised he had overslept. As for Judy, well, after the hit in the head she had taken, maybe sleeping a little longer was something her body had told her she needed. Nick was fairly certain that he and Judy weren't required to go to work today. Bogo had said that he wanted them to rest, so it probably wasn't a bad idea to rest for the rest of today as well.

Nick walked into his messy room and collapsed on his bed, embracing the cool sheets and feeling the comforting heaviness that sleep brought upon him. It only felt like he'd been asleep for seconds before he felt someone shaking him awake.

"Nick," whispered the voice. "Nick." The fox slowly opened his eyes to glare at the bunny who'd had the nerve the shake him awake from such a peaceful slumber. But after what she said next, he wasn't sure he was that tired anymore. "You're appointment is in half an hour, we need to get going." His fur prickled at the thought of having to talk to this—what was her name again?—Mona, and discuss his problems with her. The mere thought of it made his heart beat a bit harder in his chest.

"Right," he said, hoping that he was somehow in a dream. "I guess we should." Judy was still wearing her police uniform, as she had forgotten to bring her own set of clothes—Nick's were too big for her—and Nick looked down at the blue jeans and black button-up he had changed into, his police uniform hanging from his bedroom door. "Do you want to swing by your apartment to change into some new clothes?"

Judy crinkled her nose in thought, "I guess not. I mean, this uniform is practically a second skin. I'll change later."

"Okay," said the fox, standing up while rubbing his eyes again. "So, I guess we should get going, then, huh?"

* * *

Nick stepped out of the taxi that had brought them to the small, humble building that stood before him. Judy was at the driver's window, trying to scrounge up the money to pay him for his service, and Nick just scanned the building with his eyes. There was a garden in the front of it, filled with many colorful flowers and plants. It all practically screamed in welcome to the fox as wind blew through them, swaying them in such a way that they looked as if they were waving at him and the bunny that had joined his side while the taxi drove off.

"Nervous?" she asked the fox, looking for any sign of regret or anger that he had allowed himself to be put into this mess. But honestly, before Judy had asked him, Nick would've been able to say that he wasn't very nervous. But he would have to reveal himself to a stranger. A professional stranger, yes, but a stranger nonetheless. So that one question had officially ruined any chance of confidence Nick had in going to this therapist.

"What, me?" Nick asked, putting his hands offendedly to his chest, trying to mimic Judy's response to that same question he'd asked her the night before. "I'm never nervous." A terrible response to her question, Nick realized, when Judy's face fell just slightly. His hand found its way into his pocket before he could even think about it, feeling his lucky tie once again. "Maybe a little." He added for Judy's sake.

"Well, we can't just stand out here forever. Let's go in." There was no room for argument in Nick's mind as he was looking around nervously, as if hoping nobody would see him enter such a building. But he gathered up whatever bravery he could and walked inside, Judy holding the door open for him, much to his embarrassment.

The moment he walked in, the smell of cinnamon flooded his nose. It actually made his stomach grumble in response, reminding him that he had skipped breakfast. There was an antelope standing behind a desk that looked down at his papers the moment he saw Nick.

"You must be...Nick Wilde. Is that correct?"

"I surely hope so, or else I've been using a false name my whole life," Nick had that sly smile on his face as he ignored Judy's attempt to elbow his stomach as a way of reminding him to behave, and leaned against the desk in front of the male antelope. But the antelope was laughing at Nick's joke, and politely ushered them into Dr. Mona's office, finally suppressing his giggles enough to walk away silently after opening the door. When they walked into the room, they were greeted by a gray leopard with fierce, yet kind eyes. She grew a warm smile on her face when she saw Nick.

"Hello, Mr. Wilde," she said, the warmth in her smile travelling up into her eyes. "Please, take a seat." She gestured to a very uncomfortable looking leather couch, which Nick promptly sat on, already looking for something to use as a way to distract her from her job. "How are you doing?"

"Pretty good," Nick responded, scooting over a bit so Judy could have room to sit next to him.

"And who is this?" Dr. Mona asked, her head tilting to the side. Her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh, now I remember. The uniform is what really gives it away. You are Judy Hopps, the one who solved the nighthowler case. That was a very strange catastrophe. If it wasn't for you, I would've been out of business. After people thought us predators were going savage, nobody wanted to be in an appointment with me, except for some predators that did come in. Prey seem to be the majority of my clients." Dr. Mona seemed to be talking more to herself than to Judy, but she shook it off quickly, continuing. "So, Mr. Wilde, I was told by Dr. Sheldon that you have anxiety. Yikes, I have a cousin with that, you know. The worst part about something like that is that people don't treat it as seriously as they should. It's as if the mammals of Zootopia think that anxiety is just being nervous, but the disorder is quite severe. Anyway, I'm rambling, my apologies. So, Mr. Wilde–"

"Call me Nick," said Nick simply, his arms crossed, which Dr. Mona seemed intrigued by. Her curious nature made Judy feel a bit intimidated by her, as if she could read everything about Judy just by looking at her. She could only wonder how Nick was feeling.

"Well, Nick, would you like to tell me when you first noticed this anxiety?"

"Its fuzzy," Nick said. "I can't really remember when it started." Judy didn't show her surprise at Nick. What had she been expecting? For him to completely ignore everything she said? _Well, yeah, actually._ But Nick had just answered her question. It was simple, straightforward. It was something, which was way better than Judy's usual share of nothing.

"Do you know what could have caused it?"

"Not really."

"Not _really_?"

"Not at all."

"Mr. Wilde, I understand that you aren't very excited to be talking to me about this kind of stuff. I can see that you're a bit uncomfortable about being here. But I can't help you if you don't let me. Please, Mr. Wilde. Give me a chance." Nick looked at her with no change in his demeanor, and for the longest, Judy thought that he would just forever stay in that pose of having his arms and legs crossed. But, after a few more seconds of bitter silence, Nick finally unfolded his legs, then his arms, then leaned against the edge of the couch with his elbow in a more comfortable position. "Thank you."

"Ask away, Doc." Judy glanced nervously at the fox, hoping that he didn't have another tricky plan up his sleeve.

"Now, I'll ask again. Do you know what could have caused it? You're anxiety, I mean." A long sigh from Nick, and he looked down at the floor, as if begging it to save him from this horrible nightmare. So, he took a nice long breath, and let it out. He told the story he had told Judy. The same old thing about being beaten at the cub scouts, the muzzle—he had shivered when he'd mentioned it, and Judy had to remind him she was there with a light touch on the hand. Throughout the entire thing, Dr. Mona encouraged Nick to look her in the eyes to avoid having to relive the experience. Admittedly, Nick didn't feel as terrible as he had when he'd told Judy this same story. It was still awful to talk about, though.

But when Nick had finished his story, finished talking about the cub scout story, he paused for a moment, looked down at the ground, and then continued. Went on to some other story that Judy had never heard. Dr. Mona's request to look her in the eyes fell on deaf ears as Nick told his next story.

* * *

Nick was standing in front of his apartment door, a mere teenager once again, his hand on the warm knob, exhausted from his day at school. But he heard someone, a voice. A voice he hadn't heard since he was so young, so fragile. A male voice.

Nick couldn't believe what he was hearing. His sleepiness gone as if it had never existed, Nick flung the door open to greet the male he hadn't seen for years. To finally be able to speak to him in a voice he could understand. But when the door flung open, and Nick ran in ready to hug his father, he stopped dead in his tracks. There was his mother, leaning on the kitchen table for support, her other hand over her mouth, sobbing quietly. And a man, trying his best to comfort her, but this man was not a fox, he was not his father. The man attempting to stop Nick's mother's sobs looked over at the teenage fox with sympathy beyond what Nick thought was possible.

"You are Nick Wilde, yes?" asked the man. Nick knew what was happening then. This man was here to arrest him. An undercover cop, perhaps, and he had seen Nick and Finnick pulling off one of their more recent scams. The man had no scorn, though, no authority. He had sadness in his voice, the voice of someone who had bad news. Nick didn't respond to the question, too busy trying to analyze the situation, but it seemed that he didn't need to because the man took his silence as a yes. "Come here, son." That word. _Son._ It hit Nick harder than it should have. Some small part of him, the small, childish part of him, the part that hoped that his dad would come back home, had thought that the male voice was the fox that had helped bring him into the world.

Still, Nick walked closer, keeping a close eye on his mother whose shoulder was being comfortingly touched by the man. He had been protective of her for as long as he could remember. It was part of the reason that he scammed and stole in the first place. A good chunk of his cut would always go to her, though she didn't know it as far as he could tell. She made a livable wage from her job as a waitress. As much as she tried to hide it from her son, her job was definitely hard on her. Hard enough that she was too tired most of the time to notice that she had an extra hundred dollars in her purse, only assuming that someone had sympathized with her enough to give a large tip and that she just hadn't noticed.

When Nick was closer to the man, the lion put a heavy hand on his small shoulders, "When was the last time you saw your dad, son?"

Nick glanced at his mother, who was trying to compose herself, and said, "Not since I was a very small cub." It wasn't a lie. He hadn't seen his father since he was barely able to walk properly. He just refused to say that he remembered more about his father besides just having one. He remembered the warm smile that could charm anyone into being his friend, the sparkling green eyes that he had been so lucky to inherit, and even the humor.

"Do you remember anything about him?" asked the lion, looking Nick in the eyes now.

"No, sir," he said, keeping his eyes from showing any sign of a lie. Nick managed to get a closer look at the suit and tie that he wore.

The lion held his hand out, "Lionheart. Leodore Lionheart." All Nick needed was that one glance at the lion's paws. Smooth, soft. The paws of a lion that hadn't done an honest day's work in his life. Nick stared at it longer than he should have before shaking his hand, although still disappointed that it wasn't the male he had been expecting. And the questions about his father didn't make him much of a fan of this guy either. "I'm–"

"The mayor's son, I know," Nick said, his voice a bit colder than he intended. Yes, Nick was a hustler, and he also had the smooth, unworked hands of a thief, but this man was a politician, another pawn in the grand scheme of this "utopia". And Nick didn't like that in the slightest.

"Yes, well, I wanted to talk to you about your father, son."

"With you calling me son so much, I'm starting to wonder if _you_ are my father." Lionheart would have taken Nick seriously had the fox not plastered a sly smile on his face after the comment, a smile that he had been working on for a while to perfect so that charming people would get a bit easier.

Lionheart didn't even allow himself a small chuckle at Nick's little joke, but instead kept his face somber. "Listen, Nick. Your father...he was in a car crash, son. He...he didn't make it." Following that, Lionheart continued to talk about how sorry he was that it happened, and how he would do anything he could to help his family. But all Nick could remember doing was shaking his head no.

"Why are you telling me this? Why not let the police do it?"

"Chief Bogo isn't very personal about things like this. I figured something like this would be made just a little bit easier by a gentler voice."

"Yeah, well, thanks and all, but I think it's time for you leave." Lionheart looked at the stone cold fox teen before him, surprised at how much of an adult he really was. This fox before him must have had to grow up pretty fast, and Lionheart felt for him. He breathed another apology for their loss, and left the apartment without another word.

Nick was left in the room, his mother walking slowly to her room to sob even more for her lost husband. And Nick. He didn't know what to feel. He didn't know what to think. He didn't even know if he was alive at the moment. All that ran through his mind was the image of a wrecked car he had passed by days ago, the car too smashed up to recognize that it was his father's, not that he would have remembered it anyways.

If Nick had been curious enough to join the crowd of onlookers, he probably would have seen his father. Maybe he would have even been able to say goodbye. That image flashed in his mind so strongly it was as if he were there again, walking passed that wrecked car, a thick wad of cash in his back pocket from the day's hustle. Had he known that it was his dad, he might not have scoffed uncaringly at the scene and continued walking.

* * *

The room was coated in such a thick silence that even if a fire alarm went off no one would hear it. Nick had sat there and spilled that awful story. Judy had never questioned why he never mentioned his father. Why he'd only ever talked about his mother. Judy had tears streaming down her cheeks at the terrible things Nick had been through. And the whole time, despite the therapist's attempts to get him to look her in the eyes, Nick remained staring at the ground. Judy wondered if he was reliving that moment again. If she should shake him out of the terrible flashback he was probably experiencing.

But the therapist cleared her throat, an honest attempt to clear her voice, but also an attempt to get Nick's attention. Luckily, the fox managed to snap out of it, and he looked around at Judy and the therapist, his eyes wide in surprise. Judy heard him mumble something to himself, but was unable to catch what it was.

"Nick," said the therapist. "Nick." He looked at her, utter terror on his face. "I'm very proud of you for opening up and sharing this with me. I want you to know that this was a very vital key to opening the doors of recovery. But for now, I think you've had enough for today. Why don't you go home, relax, and get some good sleep. I want you to come back for another appointment in a few days, okay?" It was as if she had spoken to a wall. Nick made no movement, no sound, no indication that he was even there anymore. Judy realized then what was happening. The same exact thing that happened when Rick had been poisoned. She was losing him.

"Nick," Judy said, reaching a comforting arm to his shoulder. The moment her hand made contact, he flinched. Shied away from her as if she were about to strike him. Then, as if he had gained some new, unknown purpose, Nick stood from the couch and burst out of the room, not even bothering to slam the door behind him. Judy looked at the therapist, who had not been expecting that of all things to happen, and ran out after her friend.

But, just like when he'd tried to get away from her after the pawpsicle hustle, he simply disappeared, as if he had gained some sort of unnatural speed and zoomed away. Judy went straight to the man at the desk and asked him which way her friend had gone, but he didn't know, saying that he did see the fox run out, but not where he went. Judy, her ears flattening against her back, ran out the door and frantically looked around, trying to catch even a glimpse of her friend so that she could just speak to him. What she was going to say, she didn't have a clue, but she just wanted to be with him. To make sure he was going to be okay. She couldn't help but keep the thought in her mind of the last time Nick had stormed out of a place. She didn't want to just sit at her apartment and do nothing. The last thing she wanted was for Nick to be crying against a set of stairs, his face barely visible in the light of the street lamps. Just like he had when he was a cub.

She shuddered at the thought, and continued her search for the red fox. The story he told was imprinted in her mind, as if Nick had branded her brain with the words he had spoken. The hopeless tone, his obliviousness of the therapist trying to get him to look her in the eyes, and then storming out in anger, or maybe confusion. But as Judy peeked around a few street corners, she realized that she wasn't going to find Nick until she calmed down and actually thought. The last time she had to find Nick, she'd searched underneath that bridge near that abandoned warehouse. It wasn't very likely that Nick would go there since she knew about it, but...well, Judy would just have to try going there first. She just hoped, as she tried to flag down a taxi to go to the bridge, that her friend would be okay. He'd been through too much to just try to deal with his problems alone, not after he'd done it for so long.

* * *

 **Aw! Poor Nick. I'm SO sorry it's taken me so freakin' long to post another chapter, but with school, and also other writing projects I've been working on, things have just been hectic. As always, constructive criticism is always welcome! See you guys in the next chapter!**


	10. Chapter 10

Hey guys! Yes, as usual, I've waited way too long to post on here. I'm so sorry, but I've been going through a pretty severe case of writer's block lately. Hopefully it doesn't show in this chapter, but if it does, don't hesitate to send me some constructive criticism. Enjoy!

~Zootopia~

She felt awful. Awful for allowing Nick to continue his story, awful for butting in on his personal business, but most of all, she hated that she had done practically nothing in terms of helping him. All she'd done was make him tell her more and more traumatic events from his life, but they did absolutely no good.

She should have left it alone, should have just let him forget about his past and focused on the robberies that had been taking place. Every attempt to help him had done nothing, not that she knew of. In fact, Nick may have been worse off thanks to her assistance. She swallowed a lump in her throat, nervously rubbing her paws together, feeling the sweat accumulate on them. She was so worried about him and she didn't know why. He'd stormed off before. Except, this time, it was much different. She let her head fall back in the torn polyester of the seats of the taxi she was in, breathing in the unpleasant odor of passengers that had been in here before.

Her ears were going down her back, and she was looking out the window, not expecting the fox to be walking amongst the other mammals, but hoping that she would be able to see that sly smile, or even just a glimpse of his tail as he disappeared behind a street corner.

Finally, the taxi managed to arrive at the destination Judy had asked him to go to. She handed him the money and jumped out, flying down the small hill that lead to the small space underneath the bridge, hoping that she would see the fox on that lawnchair of his again. But this wasn't last time. He wasn't in the lawnchair, nor was he even under the bridge. Judy felt her knees wobble, and she slapped her hand to her forehead. She couldn't believe she thought her friend would actually come here, not when he didn't even want to be found. She looked up at the sky, as if a small part of her was hoping that he would somehow be surfing in the clouds, feeling her ears go back down to her back.

But when she walked back up the small hill, and grabbed her phone from her pocket to call another taxi, she looked over at the abandoned warehouse that had still not been taken down, and saw an orange figure leaning against a tree closer to the bridge. How had she not seen him? Had he seen her when she got out of the taxi? He had to at least have heard her. Regardless, her ears perked back up and walked to him, about to ask him why he hadn't made her aware of his presence, but he spoke before she could.

"I was going to do something with that warehouse, you know," said the fox, staring absentmindedly at the warehouse in the distance.

"Oh yeah?" said Judy, tilting her head up at him, thinking at first that it was some sort of joke from him. But he had a neutral expression, bordering on a scowl, as serious as someone like him could look.

"Yeah. I'd been saving up money from my scams with Finnick. I was gonna make it into a...an amusement park, you could say. I was going to call it 'Wilde Times'. Only predators would have been allowed. They could just be themselves and have fun without worry of prey looking down on them. They'd all just get together and ride the rides, eat junk food, and I'd get a decent profit from it."

"Why didn't you ever do it?"

"Haven't saved up the money yet. And even though my income isn't as good as it used to be, it's still more steady than when I scammed. Maybe one day I will open it up."

"Why didn't you just ask Mayor Lionheart to help you out. When you...said what you said, it sounded like he wanted to do anything he could to help you."

"No, I don't need to go to someone else about my wants or needs. If I want something, I get it myself. I'm not gonna ask some rich lion to get it for me." While Judy heard no hostility in his voice, she could tell Nick still wasn't a fan of the lion.

"What was he like, your father?"

Nick took a few seconds to respond, "I don't know how or why I remember so much about him. He was a good man. He knew a lot of people, just like me. I got his eyes. He worked hard. My mom was lucky enough to get a job as a waiter—even though she was paid much less—but my dad...my dad could never get a job. Every job interview he went to, he had to take me because my mother was at work and I was too young to be at home by myself. My dad didn't even really want a job. He just wanted to stay home so he could focus on taking care of me. But we needed the money. Without an extra income, we would lose the apartment we were living in.

"One day, on another job hunt, my dad just barely managed to get an interview with an otter to get a job working at a company that was focused on technology. My dad was pretty tech savvy, and this was the closest he could get to a job like that. He didn't have experience because he'd only had a handful of jobs before, and none of them were anything special. But, if there was one thing my dad had, it was a smile. Whenever he broke that smile out, he could usually charm anyone. The only reason he didn't get those other jobs were because his interview was either cancelled, or the people he went to interview would kick him out before he got a chance to do much of anything.

"But this otter gave him a chance. He listened. And my dad managed to break a smile, and it was sold. He got the job. I was so happy for him. All I remember is the otter smiling at me. I think he knew what it was like to be struggling. I don't know how, but he'd been through some things, I could tell, even at that age.

"So, my dad had a job. The otter allowed my dad to bring me to work if I was good, so I was. I'd bring the one or two toys I had and just played with them until dad finished his work. It was all good. We didn't get kicked out of our apartment, we started to be able to buy slightly better food, and we were actually happy for a while. Tired, worked, unloved by the majority of the populace, but happy. Then, one day, while me and dad were in his office, two police officers came in. One tiger, and one wolf. They asked him to come with them, he questioned them as to why, and they grabbed him and started to drag him out of the building. I tried to get them to let him go, but little Nick Wilde wasn't going to do anything against two much larger predators. So my dad tells me to go home to mom and wait for all of this to blow over.

"Well, to avoid three hours of explaining everything to you, we managed to get everything cleared. As it turned out, one of the employees at the company had called the cops on him just because he hated foxes. Big surprise there, huh? My dad's boss fired the guy who called the cops, but more and more employees wanted him out of there. They complained about things that my dad wasn't even doing. Eventually, with almost the whole floor asking him to leave, my dad decided to quit. He said that he didn't want to bother anyone with his presence. He knew he was going to get fired soon, anyway. The otter would have had no choice, so dad spared him the guilt.

"My dad looked and looked, but he could never find another job in Zootopia. With no other choices left, he decided that the best thing to do was for him to leave. He knew a guy that offered a job far away from here, but my mom and I couldn't come. This was a job that you lived at. To this day, I still don't know what it was, but all I knew was that I needed to say goodbye to the nicest and strongest man I'd ever known. After he left, we would get regular checks, paying us just enough money to get by."

Judy blinked, then blinked again. She was waiting for Nick to get up and run away again, but he didn't this time. This time, he just kept looking at the warehouse, a small smile playing at his lips. Despite the tragedy he went through, he was remembering his father, remembering the good times. That was a step up in Judy's eyes. Just like that night on the gondola, she put a comforting paw on his unaware arm. He looked down at it, then looked up at her with a smile.

"You know, talking about this stuff, I have to admit, is a little bit easier," Nick said. "But only with you. Not some professional that thinks that they know me."

"I understand. We won't go back to Dr. Mona, okay?" Judy said, looking the fox dead in the eyes. He put his other paw on the one she had on his arm, and they had a moment of silence to enjoy each other's company before Judy's phone buzzed and she had to check it.

"Bogo just texted me. He wants us back at the precinct. He thinks he's finally gotten Weaselton to talk some more." Judy didn't text the chief back. She wanted to talk to him in person about this. If he'd actually gotten Weaselton to say something else, then they'd be one step closer to finding this kidnapper that had eluded them for so long.

But at the same time, Judy was worried that Weaselton was just trying to make up something to get out of their custody. After all, everyone else hadn't known anything more than the rat, but Judy didn't allow herself to think about it. He had to know something more, she knew it. She looked over at Nick, standing quietly beside her, looking down at his phone, doing whatever it was the fox did on his mobile device. Actually, what did the fox like to do on his phone? She'd never seen him use it that much.

"What're you doing?" Judy asked, feeling nosy again.

"Texting Finnick, seeing how he's doing."

"Do you two still talk much since you became a cop."

"He handled it a lot better than I thought he would. He only yelled at me for five minutes. I was expecting ten." Judy rolled her eyes and huffed a small laugh, but listened as the fox continued. "But yeah, he's pretty cool with it now. I just haven't checked up on him in a while and felt like shooting him a quick text." Judy felt like he was checking up on his friend to make sure he hadn't been kidnapped, but that was just her opinion.

While Nick tapped away on his phone, Judy looked down at her own, about to call another taxi. She noticed that Nick hadn't even really been bothered by her prying, not this time. Maybe she wasn't prying as much as she told herself she was. It was just for some reason, she wanted to know more and more about the fox beside her. Now that he was more willing to reveal things about himself, she was tempted to ask him things about his life.

"You ready for this, Slick Nick?" Judy asked, elbowing his side, and putting the phone up to her ear to wait for the taxi people to answer.

He raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her, patting the top of her head, "Don't get too excited there, Carrots. Weaselton could just be looking for an out. But yeah, I'm ready."

~Zootopia~

They walked inside the precinct, going straight to the back where the interrogation room was. The first thing they saw was the chief standing across the table from Weaselton, who looked very bored.

They walked into the interrogation room, Weaselton straightening as he saw Nick. Obviously, the rat still hadn't completely gotten over the fox chasing him down. Bogo looked at the two officers as they walked in, filling them in briefly on what had happened. Apparently, the rat had decided that he remembered more about the guy that hired him, but refused to say anything until Judy and Nick were there. Judy gave Weaselton a glare that was about as terrifying as her species would allow.

"Okay, Weaselton, what did you remember?" Judy asked, leaning on the cold metal table.

"Just a few things here and there," he said, casually picking at the scraggly fur on his arm.

"Really? Man, I wish you remembered more things than just here and there. I don't think we left you in you're pretty cell long enough. You know, I heard from Officer Wolfson that a lion was arrested recently for assault. I'd be more than willing to let you share a cell with him until you remember everything," Nick said, sitting on the side of the table, smiling sadistically at the rat. Weaselton gulped, then took a breath to reveal what he'd been keeping.

"There's a warehouse, down near the wall that separates Tundra Town from the Rainforest District. That's where I met him," said Weaselton.

"What's the warehouse number?"

"I don't know."

"Why didn't you mention this warehouse before?" Nick asked, earning a glare from Weaselton.

"I may not be a great con like you, Wilde, but I still know when to reveal key information. I know about your wolf friend, about what happened to him after he revealed too much. I wanted to make sure nothing happened to me before I could."

"Good. Then you won't mind if we keep you in your cell until we've found the culprit."

As if she'd been waiting for it, Officer Pennington squeezed her way into the room and dragged the nervous Weaselton away.

"Hopps, Wilde, I don't know why Weaselton specifically wanted you two in here before he mentioned anything, but I don't trust it. I don't want either of you to go looking for that warehouse. I'm sending a group of officers to investigate. I've risked your well being enough as it is. I haven't forgotten that these people are after you two especially.

"But sir," Judy said, "we can handle–"

"I'm sure you can, Hopps, but there's something wrong with this. I've let you two go this far into the investigation, and don't think that I've forgotten about the targets drawn on the both of your backs. I'm not risking my finest officer and my newest officer just so you can go after whatever is at that warehouse. Go home, stay safe, and let us finish this. We'll keep you updated as things happen."

"You did assign us this investigation in the first place, Bo—I mean—Chief. Why not let us finish it already? We've faced worse threats than this. Bellwether nearly destroyed Zootopia with the nighthowler serum. This guy, we can bring him in."

"No, Wilde. Whatever slick remarks you have behind that wicked smile, you'd better save them for later because I will not be listening to any of them."

Nick rolled his eyes and gave Judy a light smack on the arm, "Let's get going, Carrots."

"Going where, Wide?" Bogo asked. It wasn't so much a question as it was a way of making sure they understood each other.

Nick just smiled and said with a dramatic bow, "Home, your highness, if that's okay."

"Watch the sarcasm, Wilde, or you'll be on toilet duty for a week."

"Only a week. I must be off my game. I'll need to try harder from now on." And with that, Nick left the room, his arms confidently swinging with each step, leaving Judy to shyly follow him, mouthing an apology to the chief before running up to get to his side.

"I think you pushed it a little too far," she said to the smiling fox.

"Nah, I think I pushed it just enough. Besides, I haven't been able to annoy anyone for a little while. I had to enjoy it for as long as I could." Judy smiled at him, more smiling at the fact that he had perked up. He honestly seemed a little happier, like he'd had a large weight taken off his shoulders. Maybe he was right, she thought. Maybe he really didn't need to talk to a therapist. He'd mentioned once that she believed in him, and she did. Perhaps that was why he loved talking to her now. The first time he'd opened up, he'd ignored it, forgotten about it. Then whenever they hugged under the bridge after her apology for the events of the conference, he'd realized that she really did care for him.

"Nick, I'm really glad you told me...about everything," said Judy. She'd tried to say those same words in the gondola, but Nick hadn't heard her. But this time, he was listening, his hand moving around in his pocket.

His smile vanished as they entered their office, and he looked deep into her purple eyes, "Well, I'm glad I told you too...I think. It's so weird talking to you about this kind of stuff. I mean, I had it under control after the whole junior scout story, but the more I revealed, the harder it was to stop. Is this what it feels like to trust someone, to honestly trust them?"

"Saying things you weren't originally intending to? Yeah, that covers a good chunk of what it's like." He puffed out a breath. "I can't really be the only one you've trusted since that event, can I?"

"Other than my mom, yeah, you are," said the red fox. "But even then, I kept most of my stuff from my mom. She had enough to deal with." Judy couldn't imagine that, having to keep everything to himself and himself only. It sounded lonely.

She was about to try and change the subject to something a little more happy when Nick's phone buzzed in his pocket. His ears perked up and he took the device out, tapping the screen a few times.

"What is it?" Judy asked. Nick ignored her, still staring at his phone. "Nick?"

The fox looked up from his phone, his breathing heavy, his ears folded as far back into his head as they could be, and his eyes flooded with all kinds of fear. Judy had seen a look almost like that before, a look that scared her. She'd scene it when he thought Rick was dying. She grabbed the phone from his hand, looking at the text from Finnick.

You knew this would happen, Mr. Wilde. Come to your tiny little friend's van. It's parked in the usual place. ;)

Judy slipped the phone back into her friend's pocket, letting herself fall into that police calm she would need to keep Nick stable. She said, "Nick, he's fine, okay? Let's just go to the van and get him." He didn't seem to hear her, and she looked around to make sure nobody could see him like this. Who was she kidding? He was in no shape to go after whoever had sent him the text, but Judy wasn't so sure he was aware of that. "Okay, Nick, you have to tell me what to do, okay? Where is Finnick's van? He blinked rapidly, shaking himself out of whatever spell he had been put under and looked down at her.

"Come on, we're taking the squad car," Nick said, starting to walk out of the office.

"No," Judy said, grabbing his arm. "We have to tell Chief Bogo about this."

"Why? So he can tell us no? So he can tell us that it's too dangerous? If he gets his way, he'll send a handful of police officers, sirens blaring, to one van. Believe me, Judy, I know. When you hear those sirens, you run. But when this guy hears those sirens coming for him, who knows what he'll do to Finnick before he runs."

"Nick, we have to–"

"Maybe you have to, but I'm not risking my friend's life just so Bison Burger can get his way. If that's what this job is about, then it wasn't worth getting." Nick stormed out, knowing Judy would follow him eventually. And as it just so happens, as he was getting into the squad car, Judy hopped into the passenger's seat, telling him to drive before buckling her seatbelt.

He knew she couldn't have let him go alone, but he was still thankful he hadn't proven himself wrong, and sped out of the precinct's garage. Judy was decently surprised at how precisely he drove through the streets, especially at this speed. She knew how well he knew the streets of Zootopia, but she couldn't help but guess that this wasn't his first time driving like this.

A few turns and car horns going off later, Nick slammed on the brakes, taking one of the two stun guns that were in the glove compartment. Judy took the other, her hand itching to reach for the radio near the dashboard to report to Clawhauser or anyone. Going in silent like this, while it was smart enough, was also pretty irrational. If they were to go missing like the other mammals, or worse, it would be too late for the other officers to come and help them. But she swallowed her fear down and got out of the cruiser with Nick, following his lead. He silently padded his way down the street until they reached a familiar corner. Judy remembered this spot. This was where she'd found the fennec fox the last time she had been looking for Nick.

Nick looked back at her, nodding his head, showing her that he was ready. She nodded back, her ears perked up in determination. The two of them rounded the corner at the same time, the stun guns pointed and ready. There was Finnick's van. That was it. Just the van.

Nick did something Judy hadn't seen in awhile. He did a hand signal, one that was telling her to go to the other side of the van and look through one window while he looked through the other. Judy no longer saw fear in Nick's eyes. She saw the cop in him, the determined authority figure that she knew he had in him the day she'd given him his badge.

They both peaked through their own windows, finding nothing but the empty seats and the pulled back curtain. Nick signaled again, telling Judy through the dirty glass to go around to the back. They met at the doors that opened up to the back of the van where Finnick slept, Nick rolling his shoulders in preparation.

"Ready?" Judy asked in a voice that even he could barely hear. He nodded and they each grabbed a different handle, their stun guns steady in their other hands. A second later, they both swung the doors open, their stun guns aimed at the empty back. No Finnick. No mystery mammal.

Judy kept her stun gun pointed into the van while Nick lowered his and hopped in. He searched around and around, but there was absolutely nothing. He hopped back out of the van, his face down, and holstered the stun gun into his empty pocket, Judy hesitantly doing the same, except she had an actual holster on her belt.

"We're too late," he said quietly, his hand going into his other pocket. Judy made a mental note to ask him what was in that pocket of his that became so interesting at times like this. She was about to go back to the car and give in to the temptation to radio in their position and tell Bogo about what happened, knowing she and her partner would get the tongue lashing of a lifetime for doing so.

Nick's phone buzzed again, and Judy looked over her friend's shoulder so she could see the text.

Not as sly as you used to be, huh? Gullible little fox.

"Nick?" Nick and Judy turned their heads to the source of the abnormally deep voice. Finnick stood at the corner, carrying a bag of groceries. "Man, talk about a sight for sore eyes." Finnick calmly walked passed them, putting the bag in the van and closing the doors. "Man, what you doin' here?"

Judy stayed silent as she watched Nick put on that same foxy expression, taken aback at how quickly he'd managed to change his entire personality like the flip of a switch. Beneath that always devilish smile, though, she could tell that he was relieved his friend was okay. He really cared about his friends, all of them. When they had fallen into the water at that compound where Lionheart had been keeping the savage mammals, she'd heard the very end of him calling her name as she'd emerged from the water with her phone in that bag. And his strange blackout when Rick was poisoned. He cared for his friends, even if he put on an attitude that said otherwise.

"Just wanting to check on my little buddy, see how he's doing," Nick said to Finnick, patting the fennec fox's head. Judy was glad that she wasn't the only one he did that to. Finnick glared at Nick, muttering very unkind things as he straightened the fur on his head.

"Man, I told ya I didn't like that. Cut it out before I do," threatened the little fox. Judy felt like stepping in, but Nick kept that smile. That must be how their friendship really was. Weird.

"There's the fox I know," Nick said, his phone buzzing in his hand. He smoothly slid it into his pocket without even looking at the message, tilting his head with that smile still on.

"So, like I was sayin', what're you doin' here?"

"I need you to come with me, pal," Nick said, punching Finnick on the shoulder lightly. Finnick looked like he wanted to punch back harder...with his bat. But he looked at Judy. Well, at the police uniform anyways. "Oh no. Nuh uh, nope. I didn't do nothin', Nick. You ain't takin' me nowhere."

"Really? Where'd you get those groceries?" asked Nick, knocking on the back of the van where Finnick had put them.

"Uh…"

"Ole man Henry's?"

"Maybe…"

"That's what I thought, come with me to the precinct, Finny boy." Nick said, grabbing his friend's shoulder.

To Judy's surprise, Finnick didn't fight it. He had a scowl on his face that looked deadlier than any predator dosed up with nighthowler serum, but he didn't fight it. He was silent as Nick escorted him to the back of the car, not even putting handcuffs on the fox, much to Judy's worry.

But Finnick just leaned against the window, looking at his van, probably thinking about those groceries he'd left in there, and stayed silent on the whole way back to the precinct. Nick kept making small talk with Judy, and she half-mindedly responded to each attempt, more focused on keeping an eye on the fennec fox in the back seat, pretending to look out the window and using her peripherals to make sure he didn't try anything.

Once back at the precinct, Nick escorted Finnick inside, Judy following closely behind. As soon as they were inside, Nick brought Finnick to he and Judy's office. Nick nodded to the door and Judy closed it. The moment he heard that door click shut, Nick laughed and crouched so he could give Finnick a high five, to which the fennec fox gladly did. Judy watched as Nick practically threw himself into his office chair, rolling closer to them and resting his feet on the tinted glass wall of the cubicle.

"Just like old times, huh Fin?"

"Man, whatever. I wanna know what's up," said Finnick. Nick let his smile fall, but still had a bit of a sparkle in his eye. Judy wondered how much he really missed scamming with Finnick. Whatever it was that was happening, it certainly had given Nick some kind of high.

"Someone's coming after me, Fin. And those that I've worked with. That means Carrots over here, that means you, and that means the others."

"What about Lenny, Rick, Sticker, all those guys?"

"He went for Rick, but I messaged the other guys. I didn't tell them what happened, just that they needed to lay low and not take any more jobs."

"I never got that text."

"That's because you do you're own jobs, silly fox. The only person you took jobs from was me."

"True. How's Rick?"

"Unfortunately, he got poisoned. God knows how, but he's okay. He's at the hospital, and I know some people there that'll keep an eye on him." Throughout this entire conversation between the two foxes, Judy shyly stood near the door, not wanting to interrupt, but wanting to understand some of what they were talking about, the parts that didn't include the case they were on...or used to be on, thanks to Bogo.

As if sensing her discomfort, Nick looked at her and said, "Oh, sorry Carrots, you probably want to know what just happened."

"It'd certainly be nice," she said, moving over to her own office chair and sitting down.

"Well, I'll start with back at the van. See, me and Fin here came up with these special nicknames in case there was something wrong. The moment Finnick came from around the corner, I knew that this guy we're after was just going to keep using him to get to me. He's toying with us, Carrots. But anyway, Finnick's nickname is Finny Boy."

"What's yours?"

"You want to tell her, Finnick?" Nick asked the facepalming fox.

"Wilde side," he grumbled. Nick couldn't have looked prouder as Finnick said it.

"If you don't like it, why don't you just change it?" Judy asked the fennec fox. Finnick just muttered something about not wanting to talk about it, and went back to silently letting Nick explain everything.

"Anyway, I used the name because I think this guy had some kind of bug in the van to hear what I was saying. You remember that message he sent me about being gullible? Maybe he has impeccable timing, but I'm pretty sure he could hear me say that it was too late to find Fin. I couldn't take the chance. There were no cameras in the area, so I didn't bother with handcuffs. But now, since this guy thinks I've taken Fin here, he can lay low at a hotel or something for a little while."

"And what about this Ole Man Henry's, and these other people you said you worked with."

"Ole Man Henry owns a humble little grocery store a few blocks from where Finnick's van was. He's as blind as a bat and has no alarms on his doors, so you can just take anything out of there that you want to. Me and Finnick have talked to him before, but we're not acquaintances. As for the others that Finnick mentioned, they're just some old associates that would help me and Finnick with the bigger scams that required more people."

"What about these people at the hospital that you said were keeping an eye on Rick?"

"Oh, you caught that did you? Sly bunny. I know some nurses and a few doctors there. I told them that if anyone besides me asked to see Rick, anybody, that they were to keep them there and call the police."

"Does that include Dr. Sheldon?"

"I can't reveal all of my secrets, Carrots, otherwise the mystery's gone. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I know everybody."

"Your phone buzzed when you were talking to Finnick. You should read it." Nick took his phone out and tossed it to Judy.

"Glanced at it on the way here. You were too busy thinking that Finnick was going to attack you to notice." Judy could already feel Nick's smile shooting towards her, but looked at the message on his phone instead.

Don't think that pretty little precinct can protect him forever. See you soon, buddy.

They were just words, just words on a screen, but Judy still felt genuine fear at what those words said. She could almost hear a smooth voice in her head saying them.

"How did he manage to text you?" Judy asked.

"Look at the name at the top," Nick said. Judy didn't know how she hadn't noticed it at first, but the name at the top said: Finnick. "Found his van, stole his phone, and decided to play a little game with me. Whatever it is he wants with me, Carrots, he's just going to toy with me first. Each time being more severe. It's almost like a scam if you think about it. Get me weakened by messing with the people around me, then going in for the final blow. It's part of the reason why those polar bears were seated that way in that limo. The doors were unlocked, I wasn't bound. He wanted to take you and let me escape, or at least something like that. Guess our friend's not as sloppy as I thought."

Judy had to admit, she was pretty impressed at the stuff that happened in that brain of his. She couldn't have guessed he told those doctors and nurses that he knew to make sure Rick was okay. What other stuff did he do without telling her, what other plans were taking place behind closed doors?

"So, if this guy is toying with you, then what do you think his plan is for the warehouse?"

"Good question, one that I do not know the answer to."

"Unless...isn't it just a little weird that Weaselton waited to tell us about the warehouses, then decided to tell only us. Maybe this guy told Weaselton to say that. Maybe he knew Bogo wouldn't trust us going there ourselves."

"And Weaselton never specified which warehouse it was. It would take a lot of men and a lot of time before they could have all of them searched."

"That would leave the precinct pretty vulnerable. What would this guy be planning?"

"He knew that Bogo wouldn't want us going to those warehouses with them because Weaselton specifically waited to tell me and you. Remember what he texted me? See you soon. He wants to take the opportunity to storm the precinct and take us."

"That really is a lot of trouble he's going through just to get to you. Are you sure he doesn't want more than that? I mean, with all the mammal power he has from his polar bears, he could probably take over everything. The precinct is the heart of Zootopia's defense. Once that's gone, he might be able to take over the mayor's office. Zootopia would be all his."

"Well, if I were him, I would. An opportunity like that doesn't just show up at your door everyday."

"What a shame that our cocky little friend sent you messages. We can show this to Chief Bogo, tell him our theory, and that's that. I don't care how many polar bears you have, the ZPD would have time to prepare, it'd give us an edge. And with how confident he's getting, hopefully he'll be leading the whole charge, and we'll be waiting to arrest him."

"Sounds good, Carrots. But, especially with how badly I annoyed him a while ago, I should go ahead and put Fin into hiding while you explain things to Bogo."

"Fair enough. Why don't we just meet at the hotel. We've been taking some pretty big risks lately by staying at each other's apartments, so we should just stay there until this is all over."

"Good point." Nick took his feet off of the wall and sat up straighter, stretching before standing. He was about to wish her luck, but Finnick finally spoke again.

"I can't believe that sucker took my phone."

~Zootopia~

Nick sat on the bed of the hotel room, his legs crossed rather uncomfortably, but he didn't care. He stared at the bright screen on his phone, trying to ignore the overpowering scent of cleaning products that threatened to give him a headache. He'd sent Judy the hotel name, room number, and a screenshot of the messages he'd gotten. In hindsight, it probably would have been better if he'd just given her his phone. But there was a difference between giving her his phone for a few minutes, and giving her his phone for a few hours. He trusted Carrots and all, but nobody was to take his phone. That was a boundary that nobody was allowed to cross. His phone was his source for all of his information.

Finnick was a few rooms over, probably wishing he had a phone of his own to text Nick with, and since the landline in their room didn't work, the fennec fox would be left to himself for a little while. Nick was not going to let the fox stay in the room with him and Judy. The two officers needed their sleep, and Nick knew how obnoxious his friend's snoring was. Well, that, and he didn't want to risk Judy mentioning something personal in front of the fox by accident. She was definitely surprised when he mentioned just a fraction of the people he knew here in Zootopia. If there was one thing he learned about life, it was that knowing people was better than any job or degree. Knowing people in high places, having information, that was all very important. It was one thing telling his bunny friend about traumatic events from his youth, but there was something much harder about divulging his plans.

Sure, he'd done it, but it wasn't easy. It was imprinted in his DNA at this point to make plans and keep it to himself. But Judy was helping him with that. She was slowly teaching him how to trust more and how not everyone was out to get him.

He looked down at his phone again, almost expecting to see a text from the kidnapper, claiming to have taken Judy. The thought of it put him in a cold sweat. A knock broke him out of his thoughts and made him jump in surprise. He uncrossed his now sore legs and went to the door, looking through the peephole, expecting to see Finnick, but instead seeing the very bunny he'd been waiting for.

He quickly opened the door, pulled her in, and shut it behind her. "Why didn't you text me?" he asked pretty casually.

"Sorry, my phone died. I don't suppose you have a charger on you?" Judy said.

"Sorry, ma'am, fresh out. Come back tomorrow, maybe we'll have some," Nick said with a smile.

Judy jumped onto the bed he'd just been sitting on, laying back into the pillows, "Haha, Mr. Wilde. Anyways, I talked to Bogo, and he believed me. I even managed to show him the pictures before my phone died, lucky me."

"Good, so he's not sending anyone to the warehouses?"

"Nope, not now, at least. He did seem a little skeptical at first, but I managed to get through to him."

"So what now?"

"He said that we should stay here and lay low for a while."

"All I heard was extra sleep," Nick said, falling on the other bed, closing his eyes and listening to Judy's giggle at his little joke. It felt good to hear something like that. To just hear a laugh or a giggle. It felt especially good when he was laying on these comfy—yet still over scented—bedsheets.

Judy clicked the switch on the lamp, flooding the room in darkness. Nick looked over to where he knew she was, and felt his eyelids already starting to get heavy. He didn't even get to say goodnight before he drifted off into sleep.

~Zootopia~

Nick gasped, his hands clenching the sheets. He heard a small tearing from the fabric giving beneath his sharp claws. He sat up, unable to breath. He tried to suck in whatever air he could, but he couldn't get his throat to respond. His heartbeat quickened even more than it already was, beating so hard in his chest it felt like it would burst. His throat was constricted, as if his own body had betrayed him. But he laid back into the bed and forced himself to relax, forced himself to become aware of his surroundings. He became aware enough that his throat finally realized it needed air and allowed Nick to breath in the oxygen he so needed, leaving him to nearly choke again on the ever-so-lingering cleaning supplies smell. But he didn't care. He continued to greedily gulp down each lemon scented piece of air in the room, closing his eyes to savor it.

His head propped up on the sweat-drenched pillow, he started to get control of his heartbeat. But even then, he felt something watching him in the dark, and expected to see some sort of shadow figure at the corner of his bed. He didn't know why, but he felt a presence, a dark presence that was standing over him, even if he couldn't see it.

"Nick?" Judy's voice broke through the silent black of the room, making the presence disappear from Nick's fears.

"Yeah?" he acknowledged, trying to make his voice sound less unsteady.

"Hey," she said. Nick heard movement in the other bed. "What's wrong?" She sounded so caring. He would have made a joke about it if he weren't still trying to get his breath back. He couldn't tell her about it. Not about this. This had been the same dream he'd had the hospital, the same horrifically real experience. He could feel his heart beating faster again just thinking about it.

More movement, and the next thing he knew, Judy was climbing into bed next to him. She seemed completely unfazed by the sweat that dampened the sheets.

"I'll turn the light on," she said.

"No," Nick said. "It'll hurt my eyes. We've come a long way as mammals, but fox eyes are still pretty sensitive." At least he didn't lie to her. He just didn't tell her that he really just didn't want her to see him in the state he was. Wide eyes, covered in sweat, heart pounding, looking just like the little kit he'd been so many years ago.

"Okay," Judy said, curling up next to him. "Bad dream?"

"No, I just get hot at night really easily."

"Nick," she started, "I know that's not true."

"Okay, so I kinda had a bad dream."

"Judging by the sweat and the breathing, I'd say it was more than a kinda bad dream. Don't worry, you don't have to tell me about it if you don't want you. But don't shut me out this time, Nick. I heard you over there. You sounded like you were choking or something."

"I was. My, uh...my throat constricts sometimes when I have really really bad nightmares."

"I'm so sorry, Nick. But it's okay now. You can go back to sleep." Now he really felt like a kit. But, honestly, it felt kind of good to be sheltered for once. To be protected and not have to take care of himself and suck it up. The presence of this tiny little bunny friend of his, the feeling of someone being next to him in these moment...it was good.

His mother would come in and comfort him when he was much younger and had nightmares. But after the junior scouts, he learned to just hide them, to hide those vivid dreams of horrible things. Sometimes he wondered if his mother could tell if he was having them, but knew he would shut her out. He needed to talk to her again, one day. But for now, he just let Judy's warmth provide comfort to him, and let her bury her head into his chest. His heart calmed, and his breathing slowed, finally. Eventually, he could feel himself drifting off again. He was still scared of having another nightmare, but knowing Judy was here, that she would comfort him, maybe he wouldn't have another one...maybe...hopefully.

~Zootopia~

Hope you guys enjoyed! Like I said, I've had writer's block, so I hope this chapter doesn't seem lazy. See you guys in the next chapter! Also, let me know what you think about my new section break. For some reason, the horizontal line stopped registering on this website. Confusing, but I found a way around it.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi guys, I'm back with another chapter!**

 **IN RESPONSE TO: LupinTheWolf. Thank you very much for the critique. Hopefully now I can get poor Weaselton's species** **right, haha! Thanks again!**

 **Also, a big thanks to everyone else's support. Luckily, my writer's block has subsided, so I will try and go full force on this chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

Nick stirred from his slumber, twisting around in the ripped bedsheets to get his body in a more comfortable position. He tried to ignore the scratches left in them, the chaos the fabric had endured a grim reminder of the nightmare he'd had last night. Nick could barely fathom how thankful he felt towards Judy for helping him, for comforting him, for protecting him from the nightmares.

Nick's hand fell from his side, landing awkwardly behind his back. Judy was no longer next to him. She must have moved back over to her bed after making sure Nick was asleep. Again, the fox was thankful, though he was also a bit embarrassed that Carrots needed to help him out so much.

She had been so interested in his past, in just him in general as of late. After everything they'd been through, how much did he know about her past? Sure, he'd read her like she was a bestselling novel when they'd first met, and he knew he'd assumed everything correctly by her reaction to it. But everyone had a story. Nick firmly believed that. So what was Judy's? What had given her the determination to be a cop? That didn't just come from her. No, someone had to have given her a push. Or maybe something? Nick shook his head. He was too groggy to really start thinking about these things now.

It took some self motivation, but Nick finally forced his body to turn over enough to see the clock on the bedside table, having to blink a few times to get his eyes to properly focus. A few blinks later, he finally managed to read the device.

"Ten in the morning," Nick read aloud to himself, turning onto his back, facing up at the bland, beige-colored ceiling. "I was kinda hoping to get a little more sleep. What about you, Carrots?" Nick awaited her tired response, but none came. "Carrots, come on, you gotta–"

When Nick looked over at Judy's bed, he saw that it was empty. Nick sat up and looked around the room, the sun trying to peek through the blinds, the light creeping around to get in. Granted, it provided decent enough light, but then again that was probably just Nick's excellent night vision.

"Carrots?" Nick shouted, expecting to hear her voice from the bathroom. But there was still no response. "I swear, if you went back to the precinct, little bunny…" Nick took out his phone—nearly dead at this point—and clicked on Judy's name in his contacts. He held the phone up to his ear, swinging his feet over the bed, tapping them impatiently on the carpeted floor, waiting for her to answer.

Nick groaned in annoyance, hanging the phone up, remembering that her phone had died the previous night. He finally stood from the bed, stretching with an audible yawn, and decided to give someone else a call.

Nick dialed the number and waited for the mammal to answer.

"Hey, Nicky!" Clawhauser's excited voice came across the line. "Whatcha doing?"

"Hey, Clawhauser. I was wondering if Judy was there at the precinct."

"No, I haven't heard from the little bunny."

"Ok, thanks," Nick said, hanging up quickly before the cheetah could question him. Nick thought for a moment, watching the percentage on his phone drop to one percent before finally dying on him. With a sigh of annoyance, Nick dropped the phone back into his pocket and decided to ask one last mammal if they'd seen Judy around.

Nick left the room, feeling grateful for the small gust of wind that ruffled the fur on his face just a bit. It was comforting to feel amidst his worry for Judy. Yes, he was very worried for his partner, but he knew it was best to stay calm for now. There was no reason to get upset about something that probably didn't even happen. Nick found the door he was looking for and knocked quietly. With his fox ears, Nick could hear the sound of grumbling getting steadily closer to the door. Finnick opened up, looking at Nick with tired, but angry eyes.

"What?" said the fennec fox, his voice filled with malice. He _really_ hated being woken up.

"Hey, Finny. Have you seen Carrots around?" Nick asked, trying to sound casual about it.

"No, why?" Finnick could tell when Nick was worried about something more than the red fox knew. Nick's ears were flat against his head, and he was messing with the claws on his paws subconsciously.

"Nothing. Did you see anything at all last night, anything suspicious?"

Now Finnick just felt like he was being interrogated by a police officer. Oh, wait.

Nick was steadily losing his composure, now rubbing his paws together nervously. It was very rare for Finnick to see his friend in such a state. Finnick knew the fox wasn't the untouchable mammal he let everyone see him as. He'd definitely seen Nick in a worried state, and Nick had even opened up to Finnick about some personal things, while only few.

"Um, I did hear some noises coming from your room actually. Some banging noises and stuff. I didn't really think anything of it. I just thought you and the bunny were...um—nevermind."

Nick suddenly became very thankful that the fur on his cheeks was mostly red, but quickly shook off the embarrased feeling.

"Fin, what if she's been..." Nick trailed off, turning around and leaning against the railing, suddenly feeling disoriented, the cold beam doing nothing to keep him grounded. Judy had been kidnapped. She had to have been. _No. Stop it, Nick, you're just worrying about nothing._

"Look, man, you know I'm not the type to sugar coat things. If you think your bunny friend got snatched, then you'd better go find her."

"Where would I even start, Fin?" Nick asked, looking down at the parking lot, the few mammals down there having pleasant discussions with their friends.

"Man, I don't know. And maybe she isn't even kidnapped. I'm just saying, I would be sure if I were you."

Nick paused for a moment before saying, "I need to use your landline." Finnick said nothing as Nick stormed into his room, heading straight for the phone on the bedside table.

Nick dialed the number on the phone before waiting impatiently for Clawhauser to pick up.

"Clawhauser," Nick said as the cheetah's voice came on the phone.

"Nick? Did you—"

"No time, Clawhauser. Judy's been kidnapped. I want you to tell Bogo to send officers to the warehouses Weaselton mentioned. He'll know what you're talking about."

"You got it," Clawhauser said, his voice going down an octave with determination.

"I also want you to send a squad car hear. I need a ride to the warehouses."

"Got it," said Clawhauser before hanging up on the fox. Nick felt like none of this was real. Honestly, he was hoping Judy would just appear so she could tell him that she was just out on a walk or something. This...none of this felt real. How could they have gotten Judy with him in the next bed? And why hadn't they gotten him either? Were they just trying to toy with him? Nick didn't know yet, but what he did know was that he was going to find Judy and bring her back safely, but not before arresting the punk who'd taken her in the first place.

* * *

Police sirens blared, a flurry of red and blue lights shining on the rusty looking warehouses. The trees behind Nick were currently being sprayed by the sprinklers that were meant to keep the Rainforest District so wet. In front of them, behind the warehouses, was the wall that separated the Rainforest district from Tundra Town.

The police had absolutely no trouble distinguishing which warehouse they were supposed to enter. Spray painted on the door were three words: _Come on in._ Those words had chilled Nick when he first saw them, but he was still pretty sure it was the cold trying to seep in from Tundra Town.

Nick had volunteered to go into the warehouse to get Judy. She was his partner, after all. Bogo had reluctantly agreed, and was now standing next to his police car, watching everything. The many officers behind Nick all took cover behind the doors of their own police cars, stun guns pointed and ready to fire at any threat.

Nick didn't know why—maybe it was just his instincts—but he felt that there was no danger behind the rusty warehouse door. But there was only one way to find out. Looking back at his fellow officers one last time, and taking a deep breath, Nick grabbed the bottom of the warehouse door, and gave it a great tug. The door creaked and groaned as Nick pulled it all the way up. The tension was so great it was tangible, and Nick took a careful step into the warehouse, his night vision giving him a view of the entire area.

Nick took a few steps in, and the door suddenly closed shut behind him. Not a surprise. The door had barely wanted to go up in the first place. What Nick wasn't expecting was a smooth, calm voice to start speaking through the darkness.

"Congratulations, Mr. Wilde. You finally found the missing mammals. I have to ask, though, what are you going to do now? What are you going to do now that you are the hero who saved the day?"

Nick couldn't spot the source of the voice in the darkness. He saw Judy, Mr. Big, Fru Fru and her baby. They were looking around in fear, the blindfolds preventing them from seeing anything...and the gags preventing them from speaking.

"Show yourself," Nick said. "You're under arres—" Nick suddenly felt a horrible burning sensation in his head. It felt like someone had lit his skull on fire.

"Show myself?" A terrible laugh, followed by a blinding flash of pain shooting through Nick's skull. The laugh was so smooth, so confident, so steady. It was almost otherworldly. "I'll show you something, Mr. Wilde."

The pain getting worse and worse by the minute, Nick looked around for any sign of the kidnapper. But everything suddenly went dark. Nick could no longer see anything. Had he just lost his vision? A bunch of light turned on in his face, and Nick recoiled at the sudden light. Adjusting to the light, Nick looked to see that it was a mirror, the lights around it illuminating the fear on his face.

"You see, Mr. Wilde," said the calm voice. Nick saw his own mouth move in time with the calm voice of the kidnapper.

"No," said Nick.

"Yes," said the kidnapper, Nick's mouth moving with the voice again. Nick's breathing became heavier and heavier, his tie providing no comfort this time. This was too much, this couldn't be true, it had to be some trick.

"You'll remember everything once you wake up," Nick—or maybe the kidnapper—said. Nick had no opportunity to argue with himself before everything went dark again.

* * *

 **Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter than the others. This chaper is sort of meant to be more of a transition to the next major part of the story. Regardless, I hope you guys enjoyed, and don't forget to throw some constructive criticism my way. See you guys in the next chapter!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys! I'm back for the next chapter. This is actually going to be the final chapter of Zootopia: Nick's Secret. I will be posting one more chapter after this, stating the two songs that describe Nick, as well as some other important things that I need to tell you. So please enjoy this final chapter of the actual story**

~Chapter 12~

Nick groaned, his head no longer burning as severely, but the pain still present. He opened his eyes, the sight of where he was making him bolt upright.

He was in a cell.

The bed he was on was a metal table with a sheet and a pillow on it, the metal toilet to his right sent a shudder up his spine, and the door looked like it could have held back an entire army.

The sound of a door opening echoed throughout the entire hall, the hall that held all of the other criminals. Nick knew he was in the precinct. That was good, at least. He wasn't in an actual prison...yet. His memory was slowly returning. Judy's disappearance, Nick finding her...the voice.

He was the kidnapper.

He had been the kidnapper the whole time. The things he'd done...would Judy ever be able to forgive him?

A small part of the door slid open, revealing a window just big enough for someone to see through. It was Chief Bogo, staring at Nick with an anger that was mixed with just a little bit of confusion...or was it sympathy?

"Chief Bogo," Nick said, acknowledging the chief. The door opened, revealing the large form of Bogo, his shadow casting itself into the cell with Nick. After what happened yesterday, even the shadow of Bogo was intimidating.

"Wilde. Hopps wants to see you," said the chief, waiting for Nick to get up from the very uncomfortable bed. Nick had trouble standing, his back very sore from sleeping on the painfully cold metal. He'd had some close calls with the cops before, but he had never actually been in one of these cells. He didn't know how criminals could stand it.

Nick followed Bogo through the hall, more cell doors lined on each side. Nick wondered what sort of criminals were stored behind these doors. Bogo led Nick through a few doors until they were in the very same room that Rick had been poisoned in. Nick couldn't believe he'd actually poisoned his own friend. He remembered every detail, every precise move needed to do the deed. Nick noticed the lack of handcuffs as he stepped into the room, Judy Hopps sitting across the sleek metal table, not even looking at him. She was staring down at her hands, fiddling around with them.

Seeing his partner with her uniform on, knowing that he would be on the other side of the interrogation this time made him more uncomfortable than he thought possible. Bogo closed the door behind him, leaving Nick to stand there awkwardly. For once in a long time, Nick did not know what to say. He had no comment, no reasonable thoughts. He didn't even know where to put his hands, feeling stiff and awkward with each position he tried, ultimately just shoving them in his pocket, ignoring the possible tension it created.

But Judy still wasn't looking at him, even when he took a seat in front of her.

Silence was tangible in the room. Maybe Judy was feeling the same as the fox: terrible.

Nick slowly put his paws out of his pockets and on the table, his fur failing to fight the cold that tried to bite at him. He knew that any sort of sudden movement was a bad idea.

Nick's head was spinning. He still couldn't believe that any of these memories were real. Yet they made so much sense. Everything he'd done as the kidnapper, he remembered how he did all...but he didn't remember wanting to, nor did he re-member being in control of his body as he did so.

He wouldn't admit it, even to himself, but Nick didn't want to spend the rest of his days in a jail, or worse...a mental asylum.

"I don't get it," Judy said finally, her voice unnervingly steady, sounding unnatural coming from her nervous looking features. "How did you do it? How did you manage to get away with all of this?"

Nick thought, he thought for a long time. Well, it felt like a long time, at least, with the silence that followed his partner's question. _Ex-partner_ , he had to remind himself.

"Carr–" Nick stopped himself. "Judy. I...I don't know. I can remember doing it but…" He trailed off.

"So you, what, didn't remember before?"

"No, I didn't. I didn't know I was doing any of it, not until I was at the warehouse...was it yesterday?"

"Yesterday," Judy assured. "Yesterday is when you found out that you were the kidnapper?"

Nick realized how outlandish it sounded, but said, "Yes."

Judy looked to the mirror, the mirror that was actually a window, and signaled for whoever was in the room behind it to leave. Nick could hear the faintest shut of a door as they followed the bunny cop's orders.

"Nick," Judy said. Nick waited for her to continue, but she didn't. She just stared at him. Stared with sadness and disappointment, but also an ounce of hope. She didn't believe Nick was actually the kidnapper, the fox could see that.

"Carrots," Nick said with the faintest of smiles, looking her in the eye for as long as he could bear before staring down at his blurred reflection in the metal. "I honestly didn't know. I didn't know I was the kidnapper, Carrots. I'm still not even sure if this is all one-hundred percent real. I'm still hoping to wake up in a hospital bed and hear Dr. Sheldon telling me that I hit my head on something.

"But you remember everything," Judy pushed, receiving a silent, grim nod from Nick. A small part of her wanted him to crack a joke just to break the tension, to break the reality of how serious this was.

Nick looked her in the eye, wondering when she would just mention it already. It looked like it was about to eat her up, "I remember the other night...when I…" Nick didn't know if he was choking on his own spit or if his body was rejecting the words, not allowing his tongue to form them and let them out.

Judy blinked a few times. She was trying her hardest not to cry.

"You scared me, Nick," she said, her voice still so steady. It was frightening. Was this what Nick sounded like in his...other state? "You scared me so bad. I didn't know what was happening."

Nick looked down again in shame, the memory of the fear in Judy's eyes as he choked her into unconsciousness. It was traumatic for him to remember, and probably even more so for Judy.

"I'm so sorry, Judy. I can't even begin to imagine how angry you must be with me."

"I'm not angry with you, Nick," Judy said quickly, her voice wavering now. "I don't even think you're responsible. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm scared of you."

 _Why are you being so open with me about this?_ Nick wondered. Even now, even with all that happened, she still trusted him enough to reveal something like that, something so vulnerable. How was she able to do that?

"When I was little," Judy continued, sniffling a little, "Bunnyburrow hosted this...I guess you could call it a carnival of sorts, just to give you an image as to what it looked like. Anyway, my school had this event where we presented what we wanted to be when we grew up. Of course, I said I wanted to be a cop. I presented it with so much drama it was laughable. There was a fox there, the school bully. He thought it was ridiculous, more than everyone else did. Long story short, he took some of my friend's tickets, I tried to get them back, and he clawed me." Judy brushed her hand against the spot, as if she could still feel it. "He told me to remember that moment whenever I thought about being anything else besides a worthless bunny, or something like that. While he was distracted, I took the tickets from the pocket in his overalls. It just made me all the more determined to become a cop."

Nick had never heard that story before. With all the trouble Judy had gone through to get him to reveal his secrets, she'd neglected to reveal her own. He felt so awful for her, and wished he could reverse time just to give this fox a tongue-lashing he would never recover from.

"So, at the press conference, with the fox repellant," said Nick. "It was because I reminded you of this fox whenever I pretended to lunge at you." Judy nodded, wiping some tears from her face. "Judy, I'm so sorry. I never knew."

"Me and Gideon are good now," Judy said. "I just thought I'd tell you that story. I wanted to see."

"See what?"

She smiled at him, "To see if the Nick Wilde I know is still there." She leaned on the table, her smile growing. "You're still there Nick, the real you. We'll figure out who did this to you, then we'll arrest them."

The smile Nick had returned to Judy vanished, and he leaned back in the chair, crossing his arms.

"Judy," he said. "Nobody did this to me. It just happened, it's who I am."

"Do you remember anything like this before the recent memories of the kidnappings?" Nick shook his head no. "Nick, you know that something like this doesn't just come from an anxiety disorder."

Nick looked at her again, "Since we're revealing things now...I don't have an anxiety disorder, at least not the one I told you about."

"What do you mean?" Judy asked.

"When I went to that doctor, the one I told you about, he didn't diagnose me with GAD, but PTSD. Much more severe. I just so happened to be working with Mr. Big at the time I went to this doctor, and he was gracious enough to pay the doctor off so he would put in something much less severe on my records."

"Nick, why would you do something like that?"

"I was never planning on getting a proper job in Zootopia. But if I had ever decided to get one, I wouldn't want the mammals hiring me to look through my records and find that out. It's hard enough to get a job when you're a fox, but if you're a fox with PTSD? All the more excuse to get rid of me. With anxiety, I have a better chance." Nick felt anger bubbling up in his chest from saying this, realizing that he would probably have to live the rest of his life that way. All foxes would."

"Even so, Nick, that doesn't make you a kidnapper." Nick stayed silent after that. He had nothing else to say, couldn't think of anything else.

Judy sighed, looking at her friend. There was no way that it was his fault. She would never believe it.

Nick was playing with his tie, feeling it, looking at it, just acknowledging it in general. Judy didn't remember him wearing that, not in a while. She thought back to when he would fiddle with something in his pocket. The tie?

"What's the importance of that tie, anyway?"

"My lucky tie. Helped me with cons. I thought we talked about this."

"The real significance of it, Nick."

Nick stared at her longer than she was comfort-able with before saying, "It was my dad's old tie." Judy blinked. "He gave it to me the day he left. I kept it until I was old enough to wear it, kept it as a reminder that I would make him proud, that I would show everybody what foxes could really do. Con, trick, hustle." He sighed, letting go of the tie. "Just not kidnapping."

* * *

Judy had felt the worst pain in her chest when Nick had been taken away to his cell. She'd promised him she would find out who made him that way so she could arrest him. This was the first idea that came to mind.

The Zootopia Prison was a grim looking building, a building that looked worse than any other part of the entire utopia. The prison was located outside of the Savannah District, connected by a small, heavily-guarded tunnel. Even for the criminals who managed to escape, they wouldn't manage to get anywhere near innocents without being arrested again.

Now she stood in front of that very prison, a decent chunk of criminals locked up in there because of her, including the one she was here to see.

Judy walked into the building, the interior much more modern looking than the outside. The line of bright white lights were in an organized row on the ceiling, giving the entire area a sickeningly pale glow. A white tiger sat at a desk surrounded by a protective glass, the prison name imprinted on the front of it. Judy walked to him, the predator lazily looking up from his book, only to straighten up very dramatically at the sight of Judy Hopps.

"Ms. Hopps," he said, standing and nearly falling to the ground in his rush. "Chief Bogo contacted me, he said you were coming. I didn't know you'd get here so quickly." Judy noted how this white tiger, with some black stripes in a neat pattern on his face, was very large and intimidating, yet he was crumbling to pieces like a little cub at the site of her, a bunny. How the world really had changed, after all.

"Hi, I need to see…" Judy paused, hoping the tiger would catch what she was trying to say. She knew he did when his eyes lit up.

"Right," he said, "come on, I'll take you to her." Judy followed the tiger through a couple doors of the prison building. She prayed with every fiber of her being that they didn't pass any cells. The last thing she needed was the whole prison shouting for her execution. The lights were already giving her a headache, and she didn't need another one. But instead of that, the tiger led her to a room, painted a pleasantly subtle orange, light streaming in through some windows in the top part of the wall that looked more like slits than actual windows. A row of cubicles lined down the room, each one with a phone, and each one with a protective window for people to see those in prison.

Usually, this room was used for people who wanted to see friends or family that had been arrested from what Judy knew, but she was about to meet someone that was much less than a friend to her.

Judy sat down in one of the cubicles, staring through the window, her nerves starting to get to her. She wiped her hands on her jeans, then pulled the on the collar of her shirt, the white article of clothing starting to feel suffocating.

"I'll be right outside if you need me," said the tiger, giving her the smile of a fanboy. He was going to ask her for an autograph, Judy was sure of that. This tiger was new, his job obviously not impacting his ability to let his emotions show. Clawhauser was another example of that.

Judy waited for a good long minute before she heard a noise that sounded like a door opening, then the sound of hoofprints on the floor. Small, small footprints, tapping quickly. The next thing she knew, the fluffy white head of Dawn Bellwether greeted her, then the rest of her, or at least as much as the chair would allow.

At the same time, the two picked up the phones and made eye contact with each other.

"It's been awhile since I've seen you, Judy," Bellwether said. "But I knew you'd come back. Us little guys have to stick together after all." Judy rolled her eyes. First time seeing Bellwether in months and she was already sick of her voice.

"How have you been Bellwether?" Judy asked, more hostility in her voice than she intended. She might need to play nice with her if she wanted answers.

"Great. You know, I'm really enjoying this new orange jumpsuit. I think it suits me. And I've made some wonderful new friends. Yep, things are looking up in jail for me, Judy."

"Good, because you'll be in there for a pretty long time."

"Not long enough," Bellwether tried to retort, but Judy could see the realization in the sheep's eyes. This was a game, one that Judy had played with Nick when she confronted him about his tax evasion. She had to bring that Judy back out.

"Oh, well I'm sure I could find a way to lengthen your time in here. I know a few people that can pull some strings for me."  
"Wow, how interesting. You know people that can pull strings. Sounds a lot like me." Bellwether giggled, and Judy felt like reaching through the phone and slapping her. But she did what Nick always liked to do. Never let her see that she gets to her.

"I'm nothing like you Bellwether. If I were, I wouldn't have been able to stop you, to trick you."

"It's irrelevant who tricked who now, I suppose. But, speaking of trickery, how's that fox you were hanging out with? I was very fascinated when I found out he became a cop. You two are probably partners too, aren't you?"

Judy felt it. That anger. She didn't want to play this game anymore, she just wanted Bellwether to tell her. Judy could feel her breathing getting heavier, but she couldn't allow Bellwether to notice any of it. This was harder than it looked. How did Nick do it? Judy just sat back in her chair, staring Bellwether down, her anger getting the best of her.

"What did you do to him, Dawn?" she asked the criminal on the other side of the glass.

"Who? The fox?" she laughed. Judy tensed. "Why, nothing. Nothing at all. I'm stuck in here, you know. Maybe _you_ did something to him, huh? You're the one with the strings, right?"

"What. Did. You. Do." Judy repeated, no longer caring that Dawn could see the anger on her face.

Bellwether stared for a moment before saying, "There it is. There's the anger. Maybe you really are me...Carrots." Judy's blood boiled at the way Bellwether was toying with her. With one paw, she clung onto the desk, feeling the table defiantly refuse to break. A part of Judy wanted it to happen, regardless of the consequences, just to make her feel better. "And since you're practically me, I suppose you deserve to know the things that I do. Yes, I did something to your friend. Big surprise!" Bellwether held her hand up in a fake surprise. Judy wanted to wipe that smile off her face so badly. "I used the nighthowler serum."

"How?" Judy asked. "How'd you do it?"

Bellwether giggled again, the sound worse on Judy's ears than the light was on her eyes. "Well, Judy, I was raised as baby to never trust a wolf for obvious reasons, I'm sure you understand. A fox is no different, just a little smarter. Well, after all the work I'd put into getting Zootopia the way it was, I needed a failsafe. And your fox friend gave me the perfect opportunity."

Judy said nothing as Bellwether paused, just waited for the sheep to continue.

"I don't know what drew me to the clip in that gun, Judy, but I had to check just to make sure that he hadn't taken out the ammo. While you two were being rammed into the pit, I checked it and found some blueberries. Imagine my surprise. Well, it just so happens that I had an experimental version of a new strand of the nighthowler serum. I'd kept it for further analysis, maybe even a test run." Another giggle. "And what better test run than the fox himself.

"I'll admit, Judy, once I shot the fox with that thing, I thought he had actually gone savage. But he fooled me. He wasn't ready to go savage...yet."

"What do you mean?" Judy asked, trying to keep tabs on every minor detail Bellwether said. For the sheep to admit this so willingly was odd but important.

"This new strand of the nighthowler serum was supposed to leak through to the bloodstream once absorbed by the skin, just like the other version of the serum. But this strand would remain dormant, multiplying in the body until there was too much for the immune system to stop. Only then would it become active, and they would become savage. You may be wondering why it remains so dormant for so long. Well, whenever this predator goes savage, it affects his thinking, but he can still make plans and do things he could do while perfectly conscious.

"I had an old source of mine keep an eye on the fox whenever you two were on patrol or something of that nature. When I heard he had taken over Mr. Big's place, well...I was amazed to say the least. It seems, Judy, that your friend was the best text subject for my new strain. It's quite a shame I only had one, though."

Judy thought of how proud her and Nick were that day. Nick had been shot with an experimental serum and neither of them had been any wiser. While he was at the academy, the serum had been coursing through his veins.

He'd never known.

"Why did you just tell me all of this?" Judy asked.

"You asked me," Bellwether responded, sounding bored.

"That's not the answer I was looking for."

"Judy, this strain can't be cured. It doesn't matter that you know now. Even with my confession, even if everybody believes what you say, there's no denying that nobody will ever be able to trust him. He'll never be cured, therefore he cannot be trusted." Judy felt lightheaded and dizzy, like she would never be able to stand from the chair. Her mouth was dry, and her eyes felt like they were going to well up with tears. She didn't want to believe Bellwether, and she would try to find a cure anyway, but the thought that Nick might never be cured from his...condition was mortifying. Judy couldn't let this happen, _wouldn't_ let this happen.

Judy was already running out of the room, the sound of Bellwether's laughter behind her a haunting reminder of what Nick's future might hold.

* * *

Nick looked over at the bland table hooked into the corner of the wall in his cell, the shadow of Judy's ears almost comically positioned to where it had her ears. Nick wanted to laugh at the sight, but what Judy had just told him made his throat close with fear. Especially when she mentioned the possibility of no cure. Even with her immediate theory of there being a cure, Nick wasn't sure he wanted to get his hopes up, not now.

Nick knew what this meant for him. He would be in prison, or maybe even a mental asylum, for the rest of his life. Even if the doctors of Zootopia managed to find some sort of treatment for the disease he had, he would still have to spend the rest of his life taking expensive medication to prevent another accident like Judy's kidnapping from happening.

"Nick?" he heard Judy say, her voice comforting to him, even when he'd been given the bad news, it felt better hearing it from the mouth of Carrots and not Bogo, who she'd told minutes before coming to Nick's cell.

Nick hadn't looked at her, and still didn't even when she sat next to him on his metal bed, the one he'd been sleeping on moments before she'd opened his door to explain what happened. He hated her being so close to him. He hated that she still trusted him enough to be near him, to not be worried that he would attack her again.

But when he felt a paw on his, Nick felt at peace, felt loved, cared for. He wanted to be close to her, but...but he was dangerous. He would always be dangerous. But her paw on his felt so real, so exciting and scary.

"Are you okay?" Judy asked. Nick almost laughed.

"Am I okay?" Nick repeated with a laugh of hysteria. "Yeah, I'm okay, I'm just a crazy, incurable kidnapper." Nick was playing with his tie again, holding it, adjusting it.

"Sorry," Judy said, looking down at her feet. She buried her head into his shoulder, his scent the smell of a fox who hadn't showered in a while. But it was fine. She probably smelled the same way. She'd only managed her change of clothes before she'd talked to Bellwether.

Judy still felt a twinge of fear from being so close to him, just a little. She couldn't help but be a little afraid, even though she knew she wasn't snuggling into the kidnapper.

Nick wanted to tell her to get off, but right now, she was probably the only one in the entire precinct that trusted him enough to keep him company. Company was something he was missing while in this cell, despite not being in here for too long. The thought of spending years in here was...Nick grimaced.

But Judy finally took her head off his shoulder and said, "Well, I'm going to go talk to the doctors at the Hematology Department. Maybe they'll be able to help you."

Nick so badly wanted to say that nobody could help him, but even with how much he trusted the bunny, even with how much she knew about him now, he could never admit thoughts like that to her, knowing she would immediately argue with him about it. But as she closed the door and locked it behind her, and Nick was left in the darkness once again, he regretted not saying it. He felt trapped, lost, alone, just like that night. That night where his fear of muzzles started. Nick thought with absolute horror that they might have to muzzle him if he went completely savage. Maybe he deserved it. Maybe it would be fate's sick way of getting revenge on him for doing the things he'd done.

"I can't," Nick said to the darkness that swallowed him. "I can't do this alone."

* * *

Judy sat in the lobby of the Hematology Department, waiting for one particular antelope to walk out. He'd helped her find the cure for Mr. Otterton and all of the other infected predators of Zootopia. Maybe he would be able to help again. Judy stared around the lobby she was in, looking at the polished wood walls, the paintings of various things, and the ferns they had strategically placed around the room. The lighting was much better here than it was at the prison. Much more comfortable to sit and wait in, especially when not talking to a psychotic sheep.

It didn't take long for the antelope to appear down the hall, his white lab coat swaying with each step he took, his hooves clacking loudly on the tile floor.

"Judy Hopps," he said, glancing over his shoulder at the lioness at the desk. "I didn't know you were coming."

"We have a problem, Andrew," Judy said, rubbing her paws together nervously, her ears going down her back.

"What is it?"

"It's Nick."

"That fox you were hanging out with the last time you talked to me?"

"He's been infected with the nighthowler serum."

Andrew was quiet for a moment, looked around the room to make sure nobody had heard it, then told Judy to follow him to his office.

Andrew led Judy to his office, the small room definitely more comfortable looking than she had expected. The first thing she saw was the picture on the wall of Andrew shaking the hand of Mayor Lionheart. He may have not been the only one involved in the cure for the nighthowler case, but he was the leader of the whole thing, the most important out of all of them. He wasn't exactly a fan of the fame anyway, and only stayed in the public eye long enough to take this picture.

Andrew closed the door and sat in his own desk chair, Judy sitting in the chair across from it.

"So you believed that your friend was dosed with the nighthowler serum," said Andrew, his brown eyes meeting Judy's purple ones

"Bellwether admitted to it. She said that it was a new strain that hid in the bloodstream until it had completely taken over, that it was incurable."

"Where is your friend now?" asked Andrew.

"He's at the precinct. We're keeping him locked up until he can be cured.

"If this strain of the virus has really taken over your friend's bloodstream, then there really may not be a cure. However, it depends on a few factors. If I can get a sample of his blood, I should be able to find a way to cure it. It's not going to be fun, Mrs. Hopps. It could take months for me to find a cure, and synthesizing it would be a good week at most."  
"I just want my friend back, Andrew."

"For you, Judy, I will do anything in my power." Judy felt like she was about to cry. Sure, it wasn't set in stone, but the possibility of Nick being cured was overwhelmingly good news. He would be able to rejoin the force and everything would be happy again. They could be partners again, and maybe...maybe something more.

* * *

Judy knocked on the door of Chief Bogo's office, ready to report the news. She knew he wouldn't show it, but Bogo would be excited about Nick being cured. Judy had decided on the way back here that Nick would most certainly be cured, no matter what.

When Bogo told her to come in, Judy swung the door open as much as she could given her stature, her confident saunter in the room reflecting the happiness of having hope.

But her smile and her confidence both disappeared when she walked in. Bogo sat at his desk, Lionheart sitting across from him. They were both looking at her with expressions of sadness, of sympathy.

Something was very wrong.

"What is it?" Judy asked, letting her smile return, nervousness keeping it from looking normal.

Lionheart looked to Bogo, the chief glaring back with stone cold eyes.

"Judy," Lionheart said with a sad smile. "I'm glad you're here."

Whatever told Judy to ignore the lion, she listened to it, looking to her chief, "Chief Bogo, I talked to Dr. Norton. He told me if we can get a sample of Nick's blood that he may be able to find a cure."

Bogo sent another cold glare at Lionheart, the political lion straightening his tie and clearing his throat.

Even the mayor was scared of an angry Bogo.

"He's gone, Hopps," Bogo said. "Lionheart sent him away."

Judy felt her heart drop, and felt anger replace the empty space it left in her chest.

"You. Did. What?!" Judy yelled. She didn't care if he was the mayor, didn't care if he was a lion.

"I didn't send him away, he offered to leave and I allowed him. He left not too long ago, you should be able to catch him at the train station." Judy wanted to stay and show Lionheart that prey should be just as feared as predator, but she had to get to Nick.

She had to stop him from leaving.

* * *

Nick stood in the middle of the station, watching the many mammals go about their own business, his suitcase next to him, the handle pulled up and ready to be dragged onto the train that would be leaving soon.

Nick had left more behind in his apartment than he wanted to, but it was for a reason. He'd only packed the essentials. He smiled as he thought of the good times he'd had since meeting Judy. He'd told her so much about himself, and she'd finally revealed a story of her own. Judy was the only one in the world that knew this much about Nick besides himself. He'd contacted her every single night while at the academy. She'd always given him the motivation to keep going, to keep trying harder. He wasn't sure he would have made it without her.

It was kind of sad, but almost funny to realize that all of that work had been for nothing. His first week as a cop had been completely ruined by Bellwether. He couldn't believe the sheep had been smart enough to check the gun. Nick's hustles usually relied on luck and the ignorance of people. He'd made a fatal mistake, underestimating his mark.

Nick checked the time on his phone. The train would be leaving in a matter of minutes. But before he reached over to grab the handle of his suitcase, he heard his name. It was very faint, and his ears perked up. He wondered if he'd just imagined it.

Until he saw Judy.

He smiled his usual foxy smile as she ran up to him, "Nick, what are you doing? Lionheart said you wanted to leave Zootopia."

"Yes, Lionheart was very right about that."

"Why? How?"

"Remember when he offered to help me as a kid? I finally took him up on that offer. I told him I wanted to leave."

"Nick...you know it's too dangerous for you to just leave in your condition. Besides, what happened to not wanting help from Lionheart?"

"First of all, Carrots, I didn't want Lionheart to help me with Wilde Times, which will probably never happen anyway. Second of all, Lionheart also helped me with my little problem." Nick had that smile so permanently planted on his face, Judy had to guess it was fake.

Nick pulled the collar of his shirt back enough for Judy to see the collar.

"What is that?"

"Something that Lionheart had his people working on in case predators started going savage again. If I start becoming, you know, this little doohickey will give me a little shock, just enough to knock me out of it."

"Sounds like a lesser version of a muzzle," Judy said to Nick. The fox swallowed, and his smile faltered.

"That's different," he said, his voice almost cracking. Judy felt guilty now for bringing up the muzzle part. "But I won't be able to hurt anyone now. I just...I don't think I should stay here. I need some time to figure some things out. Zootopia will eventually find out what happened to me the longer I stay. If I just disappear, I can be forgotten."

"Not by Finnick, Rick, your mother, and especially not me," Judy said, getting that feeling again that she was about to cry. "Don't go, Nick. We can find a cure for you, I know it. Andrew told me he could."

"No, Carrots, he can't. I appreciate it though." Nick looked at his phone again. He had to get on the train in the next minute or it would leave him behind. "I have to go. I'll see you around Carrots."

Nick looked like he wanted to say something else, but kept his smile on instead. Judy lunged at him and wrapped her arms around him. Nick knelt down and returned the hug, burying his muzzle into her neck, getting one last whiff of her scent. He wanted to stay so badly, but he had to go. He had to make sure she was safe in case this collar didn't work after all.

When they parted from their hug, they looked into each other's eyes, the world slowing down around them, time itself waiting for them to finish their goodbye. Judy's face got closer to Nick's, her breath hot against him. She was so beautiful. Nick would miss her so much. Did he really have to leave after all? Their faces were so close now, their lips not even an inch apart. Judy felt her heart beating hard against her chest, her hands sweaty. Nick swallowed the lump in his throat, no words able to form.

So he turned his head away instead.

Nick was staring at the ground, watching Judy's heart break behind her eyes out of his peripherals.

"I can't, Judy. I can't start something with you, not when I'm about to leave."  
"Then don't leave, Nick. Stay and then we can be something more. We can try it, please...don't go."

"I don't want to hurt you again, Judy. I don't want to hurt anyone I love. Ever. I can't risk staying here."

Nick didn't allow Judy to respond before turning and walking to the train. As he climbed the first step to the train, Nick gave Judy one last smile. Not a sly smile, but a genuine one, one that told her everything would be okay in the end. That he honestly loved her and always would. Then he disappeared into the train.

Judy couldn't hold back anymore. The dam broke, and tears streamed down her face as the train lurched forward, Nick reappearing in the window, waving at her. A sob mixed with a laugh escaped her as she waved back, wanting so badly to jump on the train with him. But before she could be sure, the train was already leaving.

It was too late. Why hadn't she just realised her feelings for Nick earlier? Maybe he would have stayed then. Or maybe he would have just left anyway. The train was gone, and so was Nick, leaving a teary eyed little bunny to walk back to the police car she'd driven here with.

Once in the car, Judy reached in her pocket to get the keys, but felt something else instead. Something soft. Judy took out the mysterious object, using her other paw to wipe the tears from her face.

It was Nick's tie. The tie that his father had given to him.

But that wasn't all. Judy unwrapped the accessory to find a key wrapped in a piece of paper. It was a note from Nick.

 _Judy,_

 _I'm writing this as the taxi is taking me to the train station. I really hope you chase after me like I expect you to do, otherwise I won't be able to give you this tie and the key to my apartment. I've already paid the rent for the whole month, and I even pulled a few strings to make the price more affordable to your salary. Please keep the place nice for me, and by that I mean live there. Honestly, Carrots, your apartment is absolutely dreadful. I may tell you goodbye and smile at you like the con I am when you get there, but I don't think I'll be able to say something else to your face. Ever since that day under the bridge, when you apologized for what happened at the conference, something changed inside me. Nobody had ever cared about me enough to do something like that, especially with such emotion. It was in that moment that I felt something towards you, something that I didn't understand at the time. You may hate me for this, and I'm okay with that, but...Carrots, Judy, I love you. More than just a friend, and more than just a partner. I know how sudden this is, but it may be a while before we see each other again. I guess, after telling you so much about my life, I wanted to tell you one last thing before I left. I wish you the best, and I hope that you catch all the bad guys. Because this city, like me, has finally realized that a bunny can be a cop, and a darn well good one at that._

 _All my love,_

 _Nick Wilde, the dumb fox who had his heart stolen by a sly little bunny._


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys, this is just a chapter where I explain some things and get some other things cleared up. Obviously, you don't have to read this, but it is recommended that you do.**

 **For our first order of business, I just want to say thank you guys for reading this fanfic. This story has had a lot of ups and downs, as well as experiments for my writing, and I'm very glad you guys came on this journey with me.**

 **Secondly, I'm going to reveal those two songs from the band Starset that I feel describe Nick.**

 **Carnivore**

 **My Demons**

 **Thirdly, and finally, I want you guys to let me know if you want a sequel to this fanfic. I've been brainstorming and have some decent ideas, but I want to hear from you guys if you actually want me to write one.**

 **I don't know if that's everything, but I'm pretty sure I covered mostly what I wanted to talk about. Thank you guys again for reading this story, and I will see you guys later!**


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